My Beloved Hero
by IllBeYourYoongi
Summary: Pre-Thor, Loki pulls a prank that gets him banished to another realm until he can be a hero to the helpless. But when his estranged wife follows him there, who will he really become a hero for? And how will he complete Odin's vague assignment? Loki/OC!Sigyn
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: For the record, I** _ **so**_ **don't own Loki or anything else related to Marvel. However, I do claim Sigyn as my OC. I know she appears in the comics and the myths, but this Sigyn I've created from scratch, building a backstory and a family. Not to mention every word she speaks and every thought she thinks. Sigyn is my OC. Incidental characters = my OCs. Anything Marvel related = not mine. Got it? Good! Please enjoy chapter 1 and remember, reviews keep me motivated and give me genius ideas. I love them :)**

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Sigyn curled tighter into a ball in the corner and watched Loki pace the room. He looked so confused. So angry. Irate, really. This was why she hardly ever came to see him. Despite their marriage, neither of them had spent much time together. She didn't think he had the temperament.

Usually, she wondered why he had claimed he wanted her in the first place. She had seen the women he brought to his chamber. He wasn't the only one who could find things out without anyone noticing. The girls were always young and pretty, probably prettier than she was.

She clutched her arms tightly around her pale pink silk skirts and debated what to do next. He had more than likely forgotten she was in the room. She'd have to do something about that, and she didn't look forward to the outcome. He could be downright mean when he was in a dour mood such as this one.

Sigyn used the wall to steady herself as she rose to her feet and watched her long skirts drape around her legs and bare feet. She snatched her book from a nearby chair and clasped it in one hand. Here went nothing.

She cleared her throat daintily.

Loki abruptly stopped pacing and spun to face her, his face turning every shade of red all at once. "Sigyn!" he exclaimed. "What in the name of all the nine realms are _you_ doing here?" The way he said it sent shivers down her spine. As though he had seen a piece of rotten meat on Odin's feasting table.

"I was here when you arrived. I—I didn't want to disturb you. My... my book..." She motioned to the book and kept her eyes downcast. Perhaps he would ignore his ire for a few more moments. She neglected to snap that she loved her stories almost as much as Loki loved his trickery.

Loki sighed heavily, prepared to scold her she was sure. Mercifully, someone knocked on his door, interrupting anything he might have had to say. Or, maybe, making it worse.

Loki shot across the room and roughly gripped her arm. He pulled her to the other side of the room, to a door she knew led to the washroom. Without a sound, he pushed it open and practically threw her in.

"Do _not_ leave this room until I return for you. Is that understood?" Loki hissed.

Sigyn nodded, afraid of what might be about to happen on the other side of the door. What if it was another of his adulterous affairs? She didn't think she could take that. Sigyn clutched her book to her chest and tried to force herself to breathe.

Loki barely took time to look at her before closing the washroom door and shouting to the main door, "Enter!"

It grew quiet. Too quiet, and somehow Sigyn knew something was wrong. Loki had almost spoken in a civil tongue when he shoved her in here. She pressed her ear to the door, waiting to hear anything, but heard only a few mumbled words and then silence.

What could possibly be wrong? Had Loki done something to anger the All-father? Did Thor wish him harm? Or was it something simple, like Frigga requesting his presence? Was she completely overreacting?

She couldn't contain her curiosity any longer. Sigyn silently opened the door, just enough to allow her to peer through a crack into the next room. Empty. She caught sight of a guard's long cape swishing behind him as the main doors closed.

Sigyn stepped from the washroom, only momentarily hesitating. What if Loki really did come right back, and she wasn't where he had commanded she stay? She'd never hear the end of it, and might get a lashing to boot.

But what if he never came back?


	2. Chapter 2

Loki shut the door to his washroom and wished Sigyn hadn't made an appearance on this, of all nights. Today simply hadn't been a good day. Nothing went right, and now the All-father was probably furious. She didn't need to become involved.

He returned to his usual place beside his bed and lifted his chin. "Enter!" he commanded.

One of the guards pushed the door open and bowed slightly. "The All-father demands your presence."

Loki forced himself to keep his voice down. Poor Sigyn might collapse if he shouted. She was already so timid. " _What_ does he wish my presence in context to?"

"I'm sorry, my prince. I only know what I am told."

As much as he wanted to bellow his argument so all of Asgard could hear, Loki held his tongue. Sigyn was in the other room, and he didn't wish to frighten her further than he already had for the evening. At another time he might have found it amusing, but not when such dire circumstances held out their ever beckoning fingers.

He nodded, furious on the inside, and preceded the guard from the room. His boots clicked on hard stone floors, echoing his ire for the whole palace to hear. At least then they would stay out of his way.

As much as he wished to rage at the all father, he tried to control his anger before he stepped into the throne room. Irking Odin further would not be a wise idea. He lifted his chin again and folded his hands behind his back. He would take his punishment without flinching, as he always did.

"Loki Silver-tongue," Odin started, and that was when Loki knew he really had managed to infuriate the All-father, "Have I taught you nothing? Have all your mother's stern lectures and loving instructions been in vain?"

As much as he wanted to, Loki knew better than to open his mouth to speak. He would say something sarcastic, to which Odin would take offense and make the punishment all the more strict.

"I have done my best to raise you well. I have stood by you, supported you. Put up with you. No longer. You know what you have done." He raised an eyebrow, expecting Loki to answer with the nature of his transgression.

Loki resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "I played a nasty trick on my brother."

"Not only your brother, but all of Asgard. Did you consider what might have occurred had he or the warriors three been injured? Or worse, killed?"

"I only conjured a sea serpent to a battle they were already winning."

"They did not deserve the distraction!"

"They bested it," Loki whined. "Or have all failed to remember the latter two thirds of the tale?"

"Enough!" Odin bellowed. Loki wasn't surprised. This was how most of their conversations ended. "You will be punished for this travesty. A fitting punishment, and I wish you well surviving it."

In his peripheral vision, Loki caught sight of a flash of pale pink silk and rich dark curls.

"Sigyn," he breathed.

"What of Sigyn?" Odin demanded.

Loki realized his mistake immediately. He should not have said anything aloud. She should not have left his washroom. He had warned her. She should have obeyed. He turned to Odin, his voice stone once more.

"What shall happen to her should I meet my end?"

Odin stood straighter. "She will be taken care of. Given to another, one who is much more worthy of her affections."

"Oh, Thor, then?" Loki bit facetiously.

Odin met him wit for wit. "Perhaps."

Loki couldn't fight the surge of jealousy that swirled in the pit of his stomach. His brother had always wanted Sigyn for himself, he could tell. It was in the way he watched her when she didn't know. The way he spoke to her with such kindness. He probably would make a better husband than Loki could ever try to be. But he would never have her.

"You will return to your room until I speak with Heimdall. Speak to no one and take no visitors." Odin waved a hand dismissively.

Loki knew better than to argue. Instead, he turned for the door and hoped that woman was still in the washroom as she had promised she would be. If she wasn't...

He didn't want to think about what he might do.

He could hear only one set of boots on the pavement this time, as the guard had obligingly remained behind in the throne room. Sharp pattering of small feet raced to catch up to him. Loki didn't stop or turn around. He knew who it was and she could work to satisfy her curiosity.

"Loki!" she cried.

He didn't slow.

"Loki!" She panted now, as though she couldn't quite keep up with his long strides.

Loki growled. "Did I not command you to stay in the chambers?"

Sigyn skipped a step to stay remotely close to him and huffed again. "Yes, but-"

"-'But' nothing, Sigyn! Had you obeyed you would not have put yourself in this terribly uncouth predicament."

"I see nothing uncouth about it," Sigyn argued.

Loki shot her an icy glare and she shut her mouth. She didn't leave him, as he hoped she would. She could get in trouble for walking beside him. He didn't want that.

"Where will he send you?" she asked quietly. So quietly, in fact, that Loki didn't think he had heard her correctly.

"I do not understand."

Sigyn cleared her throat. "Where will he send you?"

"I know not." He wished she wouldn't speak in that tone of voice. The compassionate, caring one she used so often. Only one of the many reasons he knew he had to have her for himself. One of the many reasons he had tricked so many to get her.

Sigyn wrapped a hand around his arm to pull herself along down the hallway. She was beginning to tire, he could tell. He shrugged her off, but slowed his pace. She had been punished enough, for now.

"Will I see you again?"

Loki released a long breath. He didn't know, but he couldn't tell her that. Sigyn was the most loyal woman he had ever met, even to the end of the universe. She wouldn't understand. He shrugged and tried not to falter in his step.

"Sigyn!" Thor's voice rang through the hallway and Loki winced.

Sigyn didn't slow down. She remained in step with her husband.

"Sigyn, stop!"

She skipped another step, trying to meet Loki's stride.

Thor's hand clamped around her arm, making it seem even smaller and thinner than it already was. "You cannot follow him, Sigyn." Was it only him, or did Thor's voice hold more than compassion?

Thor removed his hand and instead used both hands to turn her around. "I will escort you to your chambers."

"I should think she is perfectly capable of finding them herself, brother," Loki snapped. "She is, after all, a grown woman." He couldn't help it. If Thor did not remove his greasy paws from _his wife's_ shoulders, he might very well lose control. It was then, and only then, that Loki stopped and turned slightly, forcing his eyes to make contact with Sigyn's.

She shook her head slowly. "Thank you, brother. I would very much appreciate that."

Loki snarled as she allowed Thor to lead her off in the opposite direction. Why had he married her in the first place?


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Big shout out to all who reviewed so far! Shorty McGee, demonicfate616, sunsetsmiles2 and "guest", your reviews kept me writing. Thanks so much!**

 **Short McGee: Hmmm... Interesting hypothesis... You'll have to keep reading ;D**

 **demonicfate616: Um, yeah. I have a lot more to write, so I will definitely keep posting more.**

 **sunsetsmiles2: IT CONTINUES!**

 **Anywho, without further ado, please enjoy chapter 3...**

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Sigyn knew Loki didn't see her turn one last time to catch a fleeting glimpse of the man she would always love. She didn't care that he could be cruel, or that he didn't seem to reciprocate her feelings. Sometimes love hurt, and she had discovered that the hard way.

Thor looked down at her, concerned, as he strode beside her down the hall. She could feel his big blue eyes staring at the side of her head.

"Is there something on your mind?" she asked. His silence worried her. She had never met anyone who liked to talk louder than her brother-in-law.

Thor sighed. "Why do you not leave him?"

"He is my husband. I swore an oath to be faithful."

"You can leave him if he mistreats you, as I know him to be capable of."

"He has not done so, brother. And I would be a fool to falsely accuse him of such actions." Sigyn could feel the rage boiling below the surface but knew Thor would easily best her if it came to blows. She was small and frail compared to his height and strength. Even on Midgard she would be considered fragile. The curse of her existence was to not be able to defend herself. After all, that was why there were Valkyries and Warriors of inestimable strength such as Thor. Even Loki was more capable of defending himself than she was, with his tricks.

Thor took her hand in his. "My sincerest apologies, Sigyn. I should not have mistrusted your fidelity so."

Sigyn didn't say anything after that. He knew very well that what he had said was the truth. She wouldn't argue with it or confirm it, she would only let his conscience guide him to the decision he must make. She had found it was the most effective way to lead her brother-in-law to the logical conclusion. He always found it himself. Sometimes it just took a while.

Before long, they found themselves at the entrance to her large suite, and Sigyn turned to Thor with charming – and completely platonic – smile. She needed him to think all was well between them, but she had no intention of encouraging this obvious fascination he had with her. "Thank you, kind brother. I feel weary after this evening's ordeal. It was a wise idea to escort me back here. I shall speak with you tomorrow, yes?"

Thor nodded once, with a broad smile, and waited for her to safely enter her rooms.

Sigyn did so and shut the door, but didn't move from her spot. She counted to one hundred and twenty. Slowly. Two minutes should be more than enough time for Thor to remove himself from the hallway.

She ducked her head out the door and caught only a glimpse of red cape as Thor rounded a corner. Quickly, she dashed off in the opposite direction. The princes should know better than to tell her what to do or when to do it. She wouldn't sit back and do nothing. She would prove her worth.

She would prove her love.

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 **And remember, reviews keep me writing...**


	4. Chapter 4

Loki paced his rooms, waiting for the summons from Heimdall. He didn't know why, but he knew the summons would come. Some form of punishment, probably the most gruesome the All-father could contemplate. He had no doubt of that. But, what grievous pain could await him in a realm other than Asgard?

He stopped and furrowed his brow. To never see Asgard again was far worse than leaving its people. Asgard was his home, since the day he was born. His family resided there. Its shining walls and beautiful pathways were the only things he had ever known. Why would the All-father send him away? This betrayal was far worse than any torture he could have invented. Perhaps he knew this. Perhaps that is why...

A knock on his chamber doors interrupted his thoughts. A guard slid the door open and banged that cursed rod into the ground. "Odin All-father and Heimdall wish your presence at the Bifrost."

 _I am going to die._ The sentence reverberated over and over in Loki's mind. _I am going to die. I am going to die. Oh, gods, I am going to die._

A summons from Heimdall meant his worst fears would come true. He nodded once at the guard, more in shock than he was actually being regal, and glanced around the room. He would take nothing with him. Nothing in the room was of such import to him. He would remember what he wished, and books would do him no good now. He must face his fate with stoic confidence.

As much as he wanted to run away like a scared child, Loki followed the guard to the hall, where four more guards joined them. Surrounding him like a living, breathing cage. If he thought it would be any less painful, Loki would simply request they suffocate him now and spare him the trouble.

He could barely see the path they were taking, but then he didn't need to see it. He knew every crevice of the path they traveled. Through the hallways. Down stairs. To the stables, where he was fortunately allowed to mount his favorite horse. He patted its neck and said his goodbyes. This would be the last time he would see the blasted creature, after all. Perhaps he had this coming all along. Perhaps not. It didn't matter. He had chosen to pit a sea monster against his oaf of a brother and in return had brought the All-father's great wrath upon his own head.

The ride to the Bifrost seemed much longer than he remembered, and the Rainbow Bridge stretched on for eternity. Its colors mocked him, pulsing with life when his was ending. He tried not to think about it as he dismounted and entered the observatory with some semblance of any dignity he may have had left.

This moment decided everything.

Odin stood tall next to Heimdall, who held his sword before him in the usual manner, tip resting on the ground and arms folded over its hilt.

Loki stopped just inside the door, the guards pooling behind him. He rolled his eyes. "Well? I've arrived."

Odin bristled and stood straighter. "Do you, Loki Odinson, accept your punishment as fair and just and agree to do whatsoever is asked of you by the high court of Asgard?"

Loki knew the ritual, and it couldn't have been duller if they tried. He would do what was required of him if it meant he could get this over with. He neglected to make some snide remark about how the "high court" was really just Odin's ruling. There was no court. "I accept my fate."

Heimdall finally straightened and took the sword in his hands, preparing to transport the would-be prince to some realm as yet unknown.

"May I ask where you are sending me, your majesty?" Loki managed to ask, even achieving a civil tongue for once in his life.

"For your crime against Asgard, you are to be severely punished." Odin leaned slightly against his giant staff, aptly referred to as Gungnir. His knuckles turned white in their grip on the spear. "As you have become so apt to play the villain in these tales your brother recites, I wonder if you can truly become a hero for the sake of others."

What in all the nine realms was that supposed to mean? Loki asked himself. Why did the All-father insist on using cryptic messages to relay the deepest sentimentality? But instead of arguing, which would only serve to further enrage his father, Loki kept silent and waited for the surprise ending to what had been an otherwise pleasant existence.

The portal sparked and sputtered, sending blue-white light shimmering into the chasm of space. Heimdall stood watch over the great sword that sped the Bifrost on its way.

Without really thinking about it, Loki drew near to the portal and sucked in the last breath of Asgardian air he would ever breathe. He felt the portal begin to pull him forward, and he turned his head slightly to see the men standing idly by. "I am sorry, father." The Bifrost pulled him forward, away from Asgard.

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 **A/N: I was going to make all of you wait... but I couldn't do it.**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Short Mcgee – the last comment you made is the BEST compliment I have ever been given. You are my new best friend on here and I just... I love you so much! -Giant Hug Attack-**

" **Guest" - thanks for liking. I hope you like the rest of it as well :)**

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Sigyn hid behind the entrance to the Rainbow Bridge and dared not peer around for fear the guards or the All-father would sense her presence. Heimdall was otherwise engaged, so she didn't really think he'd notice her. The tall metal pillars by the open gate gave her much more coverage than she needed. She was grateful for it.

She heard the Bifrost whine as it connected a bridge to another realm, and she couldn't help the tears that slid down her face. How could the Aesir be so cruel to one of their own? She knew Loki to be capable of much deceit, but she was sure he had never intended to harm any of the warriors.

The powerful blast of the Bifrost's energy faded and died, and Sigyn knew Loki was gone from her world. She pressed a hand over her mouth to stifle a loud sob. Surely someone would hear her if she did not.

Horse hooves sounded on the hard bridge, and Sigyn ducked safely behind the metal support beam. She held her breath, lest the oncoming squadron hear even a whisper of a tear upon her face. She didn't know how they would react if they found her here, crying over their supposed monster. But, then she saw the tears on the All-father's face as he passed, and thought that perhaps he loved his son, after all. She would do what she felt was best. If Odin turned on her for it, so be it.

Sigyn's feet took her down the Rainbow Bridge faster than she had ever run in her life. She could almost feel the power of the Bifrost beneath her pliable golden slippers. She slowed as she neared the Bifrost. Maybe she could convince Heimdall to send her off-world without telling him her plans. Maybe he would understand that she needed to get away. With a sigh, she realized she still held her book and clutched it tighter to her chest.

"Sigyn Einarsdottir," Heimdall said slowly, her name rolling off his tongue in that same resonant voice he always had carried, "What brings you here?"

Of course he would know who she was. He was Heimdall, after all. He knew everything. And she couldn't hide. "I would like to leave Asgard."

"No, Sigyn. I cannot allow this." He shook his head slowly, and stared out among the stars. "He must face his punishment, as Odin has decreed."

"And I swear he shall! Only, I wish to be by his side when he does so."

Heimdall didn't say anything. He stared into the stars and didn't turn to look at her. In fact, it seemed he had forgotten Sigyn was even there.

" _Please_ , Heimdall! I love him!" Sigyn begged, the tears returning and spilling over. Her voice sounded desperate to her own ears, let alone to Heimdall's all-hearing ones. "Please! He can't do it alone! I can't bear to see him die alone. Please, Heimdall, just send me after him. I can't marry another. I can't!"

Heimdall finally turned to her and shook his head again. "It is wrong to send one so fragile to help win a futile war."

Still weeping, Sigyn fell to her knees on the hard floor and spread her arms wide. "Then kill me, too! I won't live without him. Grant me this one favor and run me through." She reached out a hand to snatch at the blade of his sword, but he moved it away.

"My apologies, fair maiden."

Sigyn broke down again and cupped her face in her hands. If she could not die with her husband, then she had failed him in every way as his wife. She had completely failed at everything a wife should be. "Please end this."

The weight of two fingers under her chin surprised Sigyn and she slowly dropped her hands from her eyes. Heimdall's kind face was still fuzzy through the water building in them, but she did her best to remain calm. She blinked and shrugged at him, a sign of her definite defeat.

"Does Loki truly mean this much to you?"

Sigyn nodded vehemently as the tears still streamed.

"Come, Sigyn Einarsdottir." Heimdall clasped her hand in his own and stood to his full height. She had no choice but to stand alongside him. If she had not, he would have surely broken her arm in his haste.

As he released her, she swiped at the tears staining her fair skin. "You will help me?"

"I will not hold back such love as you choose to give."

He slid the sword into its slot in the middle of the Bifrost and the power shot to life. Sigyn knew an inquiry would be made in a matter of minutes, so she moved as quickly as she dared. She snatched her book from where it had fallen on the floor and scurried to stand where she knew the portal would whisk her away.

"Should you need me, I will be watching."

The blue and white coursing lights pulled her away from Asgard. To a realm as yet unknown.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Reviews make me happy, so I'm also happy to acknowledge the reviews from last chapter –**

 **demonicfate616: Yeah, I'm not sure whether she's love-sick or stupid either. And thanks for the "whoa"s. That means a lot to me because that means I've pulled you into the story and that was my goal.**

 **Shorty McGee: Welcome back! So glad you're enjoying this and glad to know ***SOMEONE*** is just as excited about this as I am.**

 **Okay, done talking now. Back to the story ;)**

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Loki felt the new soil beneath his feet and almost didn't dare to open his eyes. Surely if he did, something horrendous would await him. Some fate far worse than his own death. After all, Odin had been furious when he had seen to it that Loki was sent to this... far realm. Where was he anyway?

Curiosity overriding his immediate fears, Loki peeked open one eye and then the other. It was night here, as it was in Asgard. Stars twinkled in the dark sky, but none held the constellations Loki had come to love. Surely this realm was far, far away from his beloved home.

A dim light in the distance caught his attention. Something seemed strange about it. It flickered as a candle would, but that was not what seemed odd. The shadows beyond gave him a horrible ache in the middle of his gut.

He looked down at the dirt below his feet and knelt to nestle his fingers in a loose pile of it built up around a thick bootprint. Not his own. He put a speck of dirt on the tip of his tongue and spit it back out. Midgard? What possible threat could anyone on Midgard pose to him? Had Odin simply played the largest trick possible on him?

Torches appeared from all sides, and Loki felt a moment of panic before he steadied himself and reminded himself that he was, indeed, a prince and would carry himself as such, even on Midgard.

"What are you doing out here?" one of the invisible torchbearers asked, his voice accented strangely. And it was indeed a man. His voice was too low to be anything else. Low and somewhat menacing.

Loki straightened his shoulders a touch more. "I know not. I was sent here with no apparent mission at hand."

"His accent," another voice hissed.

"Shh. I hear," said the first man. "You are here for a girl, perhaps?"

"Perhaps," Loki puzzled over the man's meaning. "It is possible, I suppose. If only he had given me something to reveal why I was given this mission."

"You heard him," yet another man spat. "A spy. He's one of Carlisle's."

"I said shut up," the first man's torch wavered as he gestured with one hand.

Loki rolled his eyes and started toward the cabin. These men were obviously imbeciles. They did not have a clue who he was and they did not care, either. He would swat them like flies if they said anything else idiotic.

He hadn't gone far when he found far more than three torches approaching him. Probably twenty or so, and he had no idea if they knew how to battle or if they simply thought themselves above him. He only knew that, for Midgardians, they were large. Very large.

One of them dropped their torch to the ground, and others followed. The still-lit instruments, Loki could now see, were mechanical and managed to illuminate a large circle around him. Shedding enough light to see by, if only they would step over the threshold. Loki flicked his wrist and felt the invisible weight of a long dagger, ready for battle. He would show it if they attacked.

A man with dark, dark hair and fully-grown beard was the first into the circle of light. He flipped a dagger around in the air like it weighed nothing. As though it were a toy he had grown fond of. "No one intrudes here without an explanation."

"I am not here to intrude," Loki insisted. "Well, I might be." He looked to the sky and muttered, "Heimdall, what do I do?" But he knew there would be no answer. Asgard had abandoned him, and Thor would steal his once-wife. The thought turned his heart hard and brought a bitter taste to his mouth. He allowed his own dagger to appear fully and gripped its hilt tightly. "Do not test me."

"The lone stranger thinks he can threaten us?" The man laughed and advanced on Loki.

That was when the fight began.


	7. Chapter 7

Sigyn nearly collapsed after the ride on the Bifrost. Having only used it once or twice to travel between the nearest realms to Asgard, she hadn't expected it to take quite so long or be quite so exhausting. It wasn't until she had stood and dusted off her pale silk skirt that she noticed the commotion several yards away.

A circle of dim light, and in the center Loki. Nearly ten men were already on the ground, and Sigyn couldn't tell what race they favored. A dust storm rapidly neared from the lightening horizon. But that wasn't the most disturbing part of the whole scenario.

One of the remaining men had pulled a weapon of some sort and was pointing it at her Loki. In a moment of pure indignant anger, Sigyn rushed him and did the only thing she could think of. She hit his head with her book as hard as she could. He crumpled to the ground.

By this time, Loki had taken out at least three more men, but he couldn't see the one advancing from the back with a knife in his hands. So Sigyn intervened. She pulled out the single throwing knife Loki had long ago given her "for safety" and drove it through the man's shoulder. He cried out in pain, and Loki felled one more man and turned to the cry.

She couldn't tell if his expression was one of surprise, shock, or horror. He felled another attacker before his hand shot in her direction. This time, the look on his face was definitely horror.

"SIGYN!"

She turned her head to look at him, but it was too late. A very strong arm clamped around her middle and she found a blade at her throat. Even as an Asgardian, Sigyn knew a slit throat would kill her instantly. She ceased to struggle, lest she accidentally force her windpipe against the sinfully sharp knife.

Loki schooled his features, but Sigyn could tell something was wrong with him. It was his lying face. "Release her, mortal."

"You speak strangely," the final man standing, who also happened to be the one with a knife to Sigyn's throat, said. "Your fight upset me, but I see you have brought a consolation prize."

Sigyn felt the weight of the knife lift from her throat, and then the man smeared a hand across her cheek, brushing back the hair that had fallen out of its ribboned restraint at the nape of her neck. She bit her lip and tried not to cry out.

"In all my years, such beauty I have never seen." The knife returned to her throat. "It would be a pity to spoil it."

Loki didn't take his eyes from her, and Sigyn knew if he had the opportunity he would not hesitate to slay the man. But the man held her too tightly. Loki would never be able to fell him without injuring her. She was frankly surprised he cared. If she had become such a horrible wife, why did he not simply do away with her now, complete his mission, and return to his beloved home?

Instead, he flexed his fingers around his dagger and didn't show his emotion on his face. "Harm her, and you will sorely regret it."

"Mm. We'll see." Some strange form of transportation arrived in a cloud of dust, and Sigyn found herself dragged into its clutches. A door, a sliding door of some kind, closed off her view of Loki. And then it began to move.


	8. Chapter 8

Loki would have followed the strange transport, but one of the unconscious (unfortunately not dead) men roused and came at him, and he had to deal with the interruption. By the time he looked for the trail of the transport, it was long gone.

 _Not Sigyn_ , he thought to himself. _Not my beautiful Sigyn._

With a flick of his wrist, the circle of mechanical torches which illuminated the bodies strewn on the ground turned off. He felt his jaw tighten and knew his control was fast slipping. Sigyn, his fragile, exquisite Sigyn, now found herself in the clutches of evil men. Midgardian, but nevertheless evil. Their temperament this evening had proven that.

He knelt and lifted the book she had dropped from the dirty ground. One of her favorite books, full of poems from all realms. Bold red lettering on the cover announced the title of the collection. A memory of blood splattered across her delicate golden slippers shot into his head, and Loki clutched the book more tightly. His fault, that such a thing had indeed happened.

How had she convinced Heimdall to send her after him? Was this some sick joke on Odin's part? Yes, Loki had heard the Bifrost as it dropped her from the sky, but he had expected Thor or one of the Simpletons Three. Never Sigyn. Why would she follow him? They hardly spoke. She shriveled every time he looked at her, or spoke to her, or touched her. As though he frightened her. He had never wanted that.

He raced back to the Bifrost site and lifted his eyes to the sky. "Heimdall, open the Bifrost!" Nothing happened. "Heimdall, I understand I am banished, but please! I must speak to someone! Everything has gone terribly wrong." Still nothing.

Loki stepped back. He would have to do everything himself, it seemed.

 _I wonder if you can truly become a hero for the sake of others._ Odin's words flickered through his mind.

If there was one person in the universe he could turn into a hero for, it was Sigyn.

Only one place to start. Loki turned on his heel and marched toward the cabin, the light now extinguished and the shadows gone. It would seem that whoever had been there had decided to leave. He would glean what he could.

The cabin itself was small and dingy, the boards on the outside barely clinging to their supports. Or, so it appeared. As an accomplished liar, Loki could tell the exterior belied the interior. Through small cracks he noted metal reinforcements and several mechanized watchers. He had heard that they recorded events, as well. Let them see him. He didn't care. They would all pay.

Loki broke in the door with one solid kick. Thor would have been proud, had he been around to see.

The interior looked like a cage. Empty. Sterile. Barren. A single candle adorned the only open window, and he rested a finger on it to see how long it had been since the home was evacuated. Not long, judging by the not quite solid wax around the wick and running down the sides. Whoever they had been, they were fast. It irked him that they had used a battle to distract him from their true purposes there. He needed to know who they were. It was the only way to save his Sigyn.

The single wooden table splintered against the wall where he threw it, shattering into a thousand pieces and littering the hard floor with sharp shards. He hoped they buried themselves irreversibly deep into the feet of whoever walked there next. Whoever had abducted her deserved the pain it would cause.

"Who are you?" he muttered to himself as he paced to another bare wall and wondered at the abandonment of the structure.

It was worse than the dungeons back on Asgard. The floor littered with dirty mattresses and nothing else. And, oh, the stench! Who could possibly live in such filth? Why would they wish to do so might have been the better question. He'd never seen such a sight.

Something shiny in a corner caught his attention, and he was quick to squat down beside it and glare at it accusingly. A knife, small but sharp, and stuck precariously into the wall. He sneered and straightened. These men, these people lower than rats, had harbored someone here. They had threatened, and judging by the rust-colored stains on the blade, they had hurt. He would make them pay if they did such a thing to Sigyn.

They would wish for something sweet as pain.

Loki barged out into the cool morning air and wished it was still dark. Everything was so much easier when it was dark. He could sneak around, find some trail to lead him to Sigyn, and enter anywhere without being seen.

He glanced around the bare countryside he found himself in, surrounded by trees with only a dirt road for access. The first thing he'd need to do was find a town. He would need sustenance if he were to rescue her from these men. And perhaps someone in the town knew something of the cabin.

He looked down at his armor and winced slightly. No, the first thing he needed was either an excuse as to why he was wearing this or a pattern to disguise it as something else. Into town it was. He turned on his heel and chose a direction. Hopefully the dirt road would lead him somewhere helpful.


	9. Chapter 9

These men held no respect for anyone, not even each other. Sigyn didn't understand everything they said, but she knew what a slang word sounded like when she heard it, and these men seemed to be cursing each other. She would fight if she knew how, but they had tied her with some strange form of sorcery. Hard round ties that slid easily into place but did nothing when she tugged, trying to pull them apart. As they had put her hands behind her, she could not see to use any bit of trickery she had learned by observing Loki.

The saddest part was not her situation, for she could suffer anything knowing her Loki was not dead. It was that he would not follow. He would never put himself in harm's way for her. She would endure whatever punishments came her way, and she would do so with the grace she possessed as a lady of the royal court.

The man who had held her knelt beside her and toyed with a strand of her long, curly hair. His touch repulsed her, and his smile frightened her.

"I don't know where you came from," the man said, "but I'm glad you did. When I think of losing a prize like you..." he whistled, low in the back of his throat.

Once more, Sigyn had no idea what that meant, but she didn't think she liked it. She propelled herself to a sitting position, instead of the laying position they had dropped her in. With a single shake of her head, she yanked her hair from the man's clutches. She didn't have the strength to argue with anyone.

"Let her alone," called one of the men in the front of this strange carriage. "We're not to touch her until the boss has a look at her."

The man before her lifted a portion of his lip in disgust, and Sigyn raised an eyebrow, as though daring him to go against his orders. If he had any warrior blood in him at all, he would obey without a word.

As she had suspected, he moved away.

Another man – she didn't know how this many of them fit inside such a small carriage – eyed her suspiciously. His eyes started at the top of her head and roved down each part of her, down to the pooling ends of her skirt. His gaze made her feel naked, exposed. Not a feeling she should like to repeat.

None of them made her feel safe. All of them made her shrivel, worse even than when Loki was angry. She didn't think they would be kind to her in any fashion. They were more likely to harm her in strange, untold ways.

The movement of the carriage swayed her side to side, like a mother rocking its child. A comforting motion. Strange, that she would find comfort in the midst of such peril. She closed her eyes and thought back to a day when comfort had been her friend. A day when her only love had soothed her wounds, both physical and emotional. She immersed herself in her own dream world and didn't let go of the image that played before her eyes.

A smiling Loki. A Loki who cared. A Loki who loved.

She couldn't help the smile that crept onto her lips. Her fantasy was so much more pleasant than the real world around her. If she stayed long enough, perhaps it would guide her home.

A kick to her shins brought her out of her fairytale. "What're you smiling at? You obviously don't know where we're going."

"Where we're _at_ ," the driver intoned. "We're here." the carriage ceased to vibrate beneath her, and the driver turned halfway around to motion to one of the men she didn't like. "Carry her. I don't want any funny business."

The man roughly pulled Sigyn out of the door and tossed her over his shoulder, eliciting a small scream. No one would imagine treating a royal ward this way on Asgard. What monsters were these people?

His hand tried to slide up to feel her rear, and Sigyn narrowed her eyes, dug her elbows into his back, and kicked him. His scream of pain was sweeter than any balm she might have been able to concoct to whisk away her emotions.

Something creaked, and the man dropped her. Sigyn's head cracked against a wall or floor and she groaned and tried to lift a hand to the sore spot. Only to rediscover that they had been tied down.

She struggled to gather her knees underneath her, for once in her life realizing that her skirts were more of a hindrance than a help. She kept her head low, her hair covering her pain-contorted face.

"What's this?" someone asked. A thickly accented voice that did little to hide his contempt.

One of the men cleared his throat. "There was a complication when we moved the girls. Someone showed up, we think he was one of Carlisle's. She tried to help him. Don't know where she came from, but she's prettier than anything we've ever seen."

Sigyn remained still, nauseous and in pain. Huddled into a tight ball on the floor. If she could make herself small enough, they wouldn't see her. Hiding from Loki's anger had taught her that. Hadn't it?

Someone's hand tangled in the back of her hair, and Sigyn bit her tongue to keep from screaming as he yanked hard. She was forced to lift her head, but she refused to look at him. So he pulled harder, and this time she glared.

The man leering back at her was tall. Not so tall as Loki, but rather somewhere around Fandral's height, she thought. His dark hair hung in curls to his chin, a style not at all unfamiliar to her. Dark, deep pupils stared back at her from evil eyes, and a single silver earring adorned his left lobe.

He brought his other hand to trace her cheek, down her jaw. "I see what you mean. She is... quite lovely."

The way he said it sent shivers of dread down her spine. Sigyn spit in his face, hitting him squarely in the eye.

"And fiery." He released her hair to wipe at his aching appendage. "Why the costume?"

"We don't know. She showed up that way. Come to think of it, the other guy was dressed pretty weird, too."

Sigyn didn't say anything. These men were monsters, and she had once heard Loki say that you didn't speak to monsters, you let them speak to you. He had, of course, been ranting about Thor's inadequacy in diplomatic matters at the time.

"Name?" The man asked.

"She hasn't said."

"Have you asked?"

Sigyn glanced at the men who had abducted her, all shaking their heads with nervous glances between the others. Idiots. All of them. No wonder Loki did not relish any trips to other realms. She couldn't fathom how anyone could be so stupid.

The only semi-intelligent man in the room, the one in charge (also the only one she currently _despised_ ), knelt before her and tried to make eye contact again. Sigyn kept her sights locked on the ground.

"Who are you, hmm?"

She didn't say anything, and the fear began to creep into the edges of her mind.

"I am Maxim Kolenkov," he supplied. "What is your name?"

Still, she refused to speak. If she spoke, who knew what they would do to her? Judging by their inane questions and comments, she knew they would not believe her story. That she was from another planet, in another realm. No, they would write her off as crazy or ill. So she wouldn't tell them anything. Nothing at all.

He reached to smooth a strand of hair behind her ear, and Sigyn shied away. He smiled. "Do not tell me you are a shy one."

Well of course she wasn't going to tell him. She would only think it to herself.

"Your silence is a good change from what I usually work with." He stood and left her there. "We will call you... Starr. You clearly shine brighter than any girl I have ferried. Starr."

Sigyn wrinkled her nose at the name, though it was fitting. She much preferred her own name. Her own, beautiful name. But she would not tell them. She used to hate her name, until she heard it roll off of Loki's tongue. She would not allow them to soil its worth. She blinked back tears, again reminding herself he would not come for her.

"We will take her with us to the Outland location. It shouldn't be hard to get a fair price for her."

Fair price? What was this? They planned to sell her like some sort of animal? Who had created these demons of nature? These men who valued no life higher than the price they would be paid for it. Sigyn gave in to her sorrow then, for she knew one truth to far too realistic.

She would not be saved.

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 **A/N: Reviews are my friends and quite frankly give me ideas to keep this going so please review :)**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N:**

 **Shorty McGee and Belco: Yeah, about the whole "hope Loki saves her soon" thing...**

 **Also, a big shout-out to all the new story followers! Hi everyone!**

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The first town Loki came across was small. Quite small. He doubted it needed more than a few square miles to fit everything. A single diner, a dry cleaner's, a laundromat, and a bank graced the main street. He hoped the people were not as simple as their city.

He passed the bank window first, and glanced in to see what acceptable attire happened to be for this place. A striking suit caught his eye, and he smirked.

His armor dissolved to reveal dark grey suit pants, a light green pinstriped shirt, a forest green trench coat, and a matching tie. Oh, and of course a black-and-white houndstooth scarf loosely adorning his neck. That was the whole point in choosing this outfit. He liked the look of the scarf.

He chose to enter the diner first, because he was certain the gossip chain resided within. Midgardians, he distinctly remembered, liked to reminisce over such things while eating a good meal. Although, that definition had most likely changed since he had been here last.

With a brief sigh, he stepped through the doors. Every feminine eye in the store turned to him, not that he was surprised. Any other day he would welcome all the attention women bestowed on him, but not this day. He needed information, not a companion to pleasure him. He would simply have to be charming.

Straightening his shoulders, Loki took a seat at the counter and folded his hands on his lap. He made note of some form of currency on the counter beside him moments before a young woman scooped it into her hand and dropped it into a pocket. She seemed happier about the paper currency than the coin. Another note.

"What can I get you today..." she eyed his outfit, "...sir?"

It took every ounce of strength he had left not to laugh at her obvious confusion. She couldn't keep her eyes on his face for a long moment, until she cleared her throat, blinked rapidly, and focused on his eyes.

Loki flicked dismissively at a menu. "Whatever the kitchen has prepared will suffice." He created several bills matching those he had seen her scoop up and laid them on the counter.

Her eyes bulged, and she flicked her gaze from the bills to him and back again. "Um... do you want change?"

"Keep it," Loki shrugged. Money was the fastest way to gain favors and friends. Perhaps she knew of the cabin in the woods. Or knew someone that did.

"Thanks," she pocketed half the bills and slid a piece of paper onto a spindle. "They'll get your food right out to you."

"No, no." Loki held up a hand to cease her gratitude. "Thank _you_."

She giggled, nodded her head, and disappeared to another booth. The other women in the restaurant hadn't stopped looking at him. Once he ate, he would take full advantage of their interest to learn what he needed to. Until then, he satisfied himself by noting every individual in the dining area.

The food, something fried, arrived promptly, and Loki ate as fast as reason would dictate. He needed the sustenance, but he did not need to lose any more time than he already had.

"Anything else?" the woman asked as she cleared away his plate.

Loki lowered his voice, furtive. "That cabin in the woods a few miles," he flicked a hand, "that way. You don't happen to know who it belongs to, do you?"

She frowned and rolled her eyes. She leaned forward onto the table and glanced sideways. "See that guy down there?"

Loki didn't remain as secretive as she did. He outright stared at the man down the counter. The man was tall, blonde, and looked like one of the slave traders that had long ago been run off of Asgard. He had never trusted men with that aura about them. He didn't trust this one, either.

"He owns the deed," she confided.

Loki smiled mischievously at her and nodded once. "My thanks, fair maid."

"Honey," she smirked coyly, "I haven't been a maid in a long time."

Loki stood, leaned forward until he was inches from her ear, and dropped his voice to what he knew was a sultry tone. "I'll remember that next time I'm in town." He walked off before she could say anything to ruin his perfect exit.

A single tap on the man's shoulder was enough to garner his attention. He sized Loki up, then took another sip of his beverage. "What do you want?" One so foul should not have been allowed such a pleasure whilst Sigyn was out there alone and in danger. Loki didn't take kindly to such flippancy.

"I desire a word with you."

"Let me finish my coffee, then we'll talk."

"You do not wish for me to make a scene. Believe me, I can conjure a fantastical one."

The man groaned. "Alright, fine." He stood from his stool, dropped a piece of money on the counter, and motioned for the door. "After you."

"I am not so naïve as to fall for such a trick," Loki assured. "I will await your exit."

With a shrug, the incompetent blond man stuffed his hands in his pockets and strode for the door. Loki followed closely, waiting for the trick he was certain would come. It was only a matter of time. This man seemed somewhat clever for a mortal, and he didn't look like one who was apt to fight fairly. And Loki, of course, expected a fight.

The man didn't disappoint.

It was the turn into an alley that first alerted Loki to the impending attack. One could not present a more cliché meeting space. The man turned, intending to land his fist across Loki's face, but Loki was ready. He caught the fist in one hand and pushed back on the man's wrist until he heard a satisfactory pop. The man screamed in agony.

"You must know more than you wish me to think," Loki hissed. "Or you would not attempt to distract me so."

"I... don't know... don't know what you're talking about." The man swallowed a gulp and gritted his teeth.

"Oh? You know nothing of the cabin in the woods yonder?" He raised an eyebrow and glanced in the general direction he had come from. Then pushed just a little on the wrist he still held.

"Agh!" The man crumpled to his knees. "No! I don't know!"

"Strange, as I've been told you own it." Loki dropped the man's wrist, allowing him to cuddle it to his chest, and moved his hand instead to the man's throat. Without much thought, he pushed him farther into the alley and up against a wall. "You will bow your will to mine. I will know what I seek."

He brought his other fist up to smash it against Loki's chin, but the angry trickster caught it by the wrist.

"You wish me to incapacitate you fully?" He squeezed just enough to cause discomfort on the still intact appendage.

The man's eyes widened and he shook his head as best he could with Loki's hand still clamped around his throat.

"Good." As much as he didn't want to release the oaf who tried to lie to him, Loki knew he couldn't speak without air. "If I release you, will you behave?"

His eyes closed in a sort of nod, and Loki took it as a yes. He loosened his grasp and let the man slump forward, his uninjured hand on his knee.

"Who are you?" the man asked.

Loki sneered. "The more important question is, who are you?"

"Yeah, like I'm going to tell you. Who do you work for? Carlisle?"

"Why does everyone keep asking that question?" Loki took a step back and folded his hands behind his back. The man was too out of breath to try much, and besides he would only catch the pathetic attempt at an attack. Pitiful what passed for battle training on Midgard.

He straightened to lean back against the wall with a groan. "I've told him before, the cabin is never going to be exclusively his. I rent it to anyone with the cash flow, and I'm careful to schedule it far enough apart that no one runs into each other. He'll have to be happy with it."

"Imbecile," Loki rolled his eyes. "I could teach you many rules about never taking money from enemies. Unfortunately, your words have cemented your guilt in my mind. Get up."

"What?"

Loki mercilessly grabbed the man's injured wrist and pulled upwards to force him to stand. "I _said_ , get up. Never force me to repeat myself. You will not appreciate the outcome."

"I don't appreciate this outcome." He was sweating again, and shaking now. "I think I'm gonna be sick."

"Your illness can wait until after you show me these records you speak of." Loki shoved him toward the opening to the alley. "Try to run away, and I will end your short and utterly pathetic excuse for an existence."

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	11. Chapter 11

The shackles had been unexpected, at best. Solid iron rungs held the short chains fast to the wall, and the hard cuffs on her wrists chafed. Her feet remained free, but there wasn't much she could do when held tightly to a single position on the rocky wall. Her rear had started to go numb an hour ago, and she could barely feel her fingertips. She shifted as quietly as she could, trying to bring life back to her unfeeling limbs.

The men stood huddled on the other side of the room, speaking in hushed tones. Occasionally, Maxim would nod or gesture to a table, but she couldn't make out what they were saying.

Frustrated, she curled her long fingers around whatever chain she could find and tugged. It didn't budge. She tried again, this time the chain rattled and the men turned to look at her. Maxim smiled coyly and mumbled something to one of the beasts next to him.

Sigyn stood and pushed as close to the wall as she could as Maxim strode her direction. The way he shoved his hands into his pockets and kept that same sickening smirk on his lips nauseated her. And frightened her. She shivered at the thought.

Maxim's hand reached for her hair again, and Sigyn curled away. She wished he wouldn't do that. She didn't care if he liked the softness or just wanted to scare her. She didn't like the way he did it. Something about it made her feel... dirty. Like one of the warriors on Asgard had pushed her into a mud puddle and left her there.

"They say a man fought them for you." Maxim tilted his head and curled the strand he had managed to snatch around his finger. "Is this true?"

Sigyn wanted to shout that of course he had fought for her. He loved her. Only, he didn't. She doubted now if he had ever loved her, and he hadn't fought for her. He had fought for himself. She should never have come. She should have left him to his own devices. He would have been fine, she knew it in her heart. Why had she come in the first place? Why did he hate her so much he would let them take her away like this? They would kill her. This she felt within her soul. But, if this treatment continued, Sigyn was more than sure he would torture her first.

His fingers tightened on the strand of hair, and Sigyn feared he may rip it from her scalp. "My shining Starr, I asked you a question."

"I'm not yours," Sigyn spat. She hadn't meant to speak. The words just came out. She hadn't asked them to, they had demanded to be spoken. She squeezed her eyes shut and leaned her temple against the wall. Stupid, stupid girl.

"Ah, the angel does have a voice," Maxim cooed. "Does she also have an opinion now?"

Not uttering a word, Sigyn glared at him. She wasn't his, that was fact. She had pledged her love to Loki of Asgard, for better or for worse. She just hadn't expected worse to come so soon.

Maxim removed his fingers from her hair and trailed a knuckle down her neck.

Sigyn flinched and flattened her back against the wall, but he stepped closer.

He ran his knuckle farther toward her collarbone. "If you want me to stop, Starr, you will have to ask nicely."

Sigyn wrinkled her nose at the thought, but as his finger roamed lower still she knew she had to do something. "P-please. Please stop."

"Good girl." Maxim lifted his finger from her skin and settled his hands in his pockets again. "Tell me, who was the man? Did he work for Carlisle?"

Sigyn rolled her eyes and licked her lips to be able to speak again. "He works only for himself. He will not disturb your plans."

Maxim nodded. "I'm glad to hear it. I'd hate to lose a prize like you." He eyed her from head to foot again.

Seeing as he was being very forthcoming with information, Sigyn decided it might not be a bad idea to test her luck. She cleared her throat and reached for any courage she might have deep within herself. "You spoke of the Outland location, yes? Where is this place? I have never heard of it."

"No, you wouldn't have. Very remote. Such a small village. Do not worry, you will be well taken care of." He finally backed away, still staring her down. "Rest. You'll need it where you're going."

she wanted to shout at him as he retreated, but she couldn't bring herself to speak again. It had nearly drained her to speak at all. She had to summon strength if she were ever to escape these men. She doubted she would be much use alone.

Maxim suddenly turned back to her and reached to toy with one of the chains holding her hand. "Prepare to leave within the hour," he commanded his men. "And keep her in chains." He bent down until his mouth was directly by hear ear to whisper sinisterly, "You look lovely in chains."


	12. Chapter 12

If he could have made the idiot mortal move faster, Loki would have. With each second that passed, Sigyn traveled farther and farther from his grasp. He would not lose her to men who thought they could take what they wanted and do what they wished with it.

"Do you toy with me purposely or are you actually this stupid?" Loki folded his hands behind his back and watched the mortal shuffle through stacks of papers with his one good hand.

The man winced and cupped his broken wrist to his chest. "Maybe I'd work faster if you stopped insulting me."

"Is it truly an insult if I am speaking truth?"

The man shrugged. "Who says you're speaking truth?"

Loki growled and began to pace again. This should have taken far less time than it had. The mortal was supposed to know where he kept the papers. They should have found them by now. He could also teach these Midgardians something about keeping records neat. And he didn't even hold a position of staff where that was necessary.

"Found it!" the mortal held up a single piece of paper and waved it around.

Loki snatched it from his hand and took a moment to adjust his eyes to the language of Midgard. He read it easily. Angrily, he jabbed a single finger at the middle of the paper. "This is the man who was here this morning?"

"Yeah." The mortal crumpled to the floor. Weakling.

 _Maxim Kolenkov_ , the paper read. A name Loki didn't know, but had already grown to hate. "Where is he now?"

"Man, I don't know!" The man curled into a ball and leaned back against the desk he had destroyed looking for this paper. "He doesn't tell me, okay? I only know when they're gonna be at the cabin. Beyond that... that's their business."

" _Their business_ has brought you more trouble than you're worth," Loki hissed. "Have you no inkling to where he might have gone? Where he's taken her?"

"Taken her?" The man scoffed. "All this is over a girl? Typical Carlisle."

Loki gripped the man's good wrist and used it to hurl him toward the wall. "Do not assume I work for such a man. I am far superior to him, and you would do well to cease this antagonization."

Having hit his head on the wall, the man groaned and pressed a palm to its side. "Who... are you?"

"I am not to be trifled with." Loki advanced on him and towered above him. "Where has he taken her?"

"I told you, I don't know! Probably north somewhere!" He cowered in fear, and the feeling of power it gave Loki felt good. He narrowed his eyes, contemplating how to deal with the man. The mortal man swallowed, his Adam's apple bobbing. "Wh-what are you going to do with me?"

"You are not worth my time." Loki straightened, crumpled the paper in his fist, and strode for the door. "Tell no one of this and I will spare you."

He didn't turn to see how the other man dealt with the threat. He didn't want to know, nor did he care. North, the man had said. Surely it couldn't be so far away. He would have to purloin transportation, but that wouldn't be hard. Not with the tricks he had mastered.

He let his mind wander as he walked. Sigyn was so small. So fragile. If these men who thought they could steal her away had done anything to harm her, let alone what he feared they might be up to, Loki could not imagine the rage that would fill him. They would all pay dearly for treating his beautiful Sigyn thusly. No, they would do more than pay. He would slaughter them all and return Sigyn to her rightful place in Asgard. No matter what they had done to her, or planned to do to her, he would take her back and keep her safe.

He turned north and quickened his steps. He needed to get to her before something terrible happened. Unforgivable was already off the table.


	13. Chapter 13

"Wake up," Maxim cooed.

Sigyn felt him tug at the chains on her wrists and moaned as it pulled her forward across the floor of the horseless carriage. All she wanted to do was sleep, although she really didn't understand how she could do so when in the company of such vile men. Come to think of it, she didn't exactly remember dozing off in the first place. What had they done to her?

She pressed a hand to her head. Or, she would have if Maxim hadn't tugged at the chains again. They moved her hands just out of reach from her head. She whimpered.

"I _said_ to rise." Maxim tugged again, and this time it pulled Sigyn's shoulder at an uncomfortable angle.

Her eyes flew open and she gasped at the pain. A small squeak flew from her throat in place of the scream she held back.

Maxim let go of the chains and reached to stroke her hair again. She didn't know if she would ever be able to let anyone near her locks ever again. "Even in pain, your voice is lovely."

It sounded so much like something Loki would say that Sigyn felt herself start to panic. What if this was Loki's plan all along? What if he wanted an excuse to get rid of her instead of just killing her on Asgard? What if he wasn't coming because he was already there? She shuffled back against the other side of the carriage and pressed a hand to her mouth to stifle a sob. Would he be so cruel? Her heart wanted to say no, but her head said yes.

Maxim scowled and reached in to tug her forward by the chains around her feet. She couldn't resist as she slid forward, much as she might have liked to. Tears came unbidden, again. One thought pervaded her mind. Over and over.

 _I don't want to die. I don't want to die. I don't want to die._

One more good yank forward, and Maxim wrapped his arms around her waist.

Sigyn screamed and thought to wrap her chained hands around his neck and throttle him, but he dragged her backward. That would have been terribly awkward. Instead she tried to kick at him, but her dress tangled around her feet and stopped that struggle.

Maxim just chuckled when a foot did impact with his leg, and dropped her right there. She landed on the cold ground with a hard thud. The chains binding her clanked against something there, she assumed rocks, but it could have just been the hard dirt.

His plan must have worked, because suddenly Sigyn was too stunned to fight. He hauled her up by one arm and dragged her behind him toward a long, low building. She wasn't sure she wanted to know what it was, but like it or not she was about to find out.

The men who had traveled with them opened the door to allow Maxim to enter first, which in turn meant that Sigyn entered before they did.

The entire building seemed to be some sort of long hall with doors on both sides. Except, of course, at the end of the hallway, where there appeared to be some sort of large circular room.

Sigyn noted women – no, _girls_ – peering out from open doorways. Something in their eyes told her they weren't really there. There was no spirit, and in its stead sat only dull faded irises. She had seem similar gazes in those enchanted by a mind-control substance on Asgard. She failed to know what had caused this reaction here on Midgard.

The second thing she noticed horrified her even more than the eyes. Their clothes. Or, rather, the lack thereof. Their skirts barely reached their thighs, and the dresses (if they could be called that) that did have some sort of straps dipped so low in the middle that they almost reached the girls' navels. Some arms sported bruises, and most makeup was smeared or half-done. They all stared at her, as though she was some sort of entertainment, and she listened intently to their whispered comments.

"Chained. Poor thing doesn't know what'll happen after this."

"At least she didn't come willingly."

"Must be the prize they caught for the auction."

Sigyn shuddered. So he was going to sell her off after all, if all went according to his plan. She still wasn't sure why he kept touching her like he did. He certainly didn't have feelings for her, did he?

She couldn't fathom what went through his mind. Couldn't fathom why she was the only girl in chains, or why they all seemed to stay still. As though this had been their idea.

Sigyn hadn't realized she had stopped walking until Maxim tugged on the chains to propel her forward. She growled at him, surprised at how much it sounded like one of Loki's angry growls. Despite herself, despite her fear and doubts about this situation, she missed Loki. She loved him. And she hated herself for it.

All the way down the hall and into the circular room Maxim dragged her. If there had been even a sliver of hope that she would make it out of this intact, Sigyn would have fought him.

But Sigyn had given up all hope of rescue.

Maxim shoved her ahead of him into the room, where multiple girls waited for... for something. His words, maybe? His command to do what he wanted, perhaps?

Sigyn faltered and stared at the listless women before her. No personality. No sense of self. No life. And it seemed she was to become one of them.

"Give her a dose and dress her appropriately," Maxim ordered.

Sigyn snorted at the use of the word _appropriately_. She doubted Maxim had any idea what _appropriately_ meant.

He slammed the door behind her, and Sigyn turned to look. She grabbed at the knob, twisting and pulling, but he had apparently locked her in. She huffed, dejected and utterly spent.

Something pricked her arm and Sigyn cried out and yanked away from whatever had wounded her.

"Sorry," one of the women mumbled.

Never before had Sigyn so wanted to rant at another for the treatment she had been given. She opened her mouth to speak, but something felt wrong. She pressed a hand to her head as the room began to spin. And tilt. Suddenly, nothing looked right. She felt in a haze, and she couldn't pull herself out of it. A question came to mind, the question of "what have you done to me?" But Sigyn could not force the words from her lips.

She staggered slightly and found herself giggling at her own clumsiness. Giggling! She had never been a giggler. Not ever. What _had_ they done to her?


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: Thanks to all the new followers and favorites! Welcome to the family, guys :D (Note: Nosside, all I have to say to your comment is :) )**

 **K. Back to the story and some filler chapter/really important plot point stuff...**

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North.

It was all Loki could focus on, all he could hear in his head. And the further north he went, the stronger the compulsion grew. He didn't understand why Midgardians insisted on traveling by horseless carriage and not by something much faster, like the Bifrost. There was an enormously grand invention. And to think mortals believed a horseless carriage to be an achievement. He rolled his eyes.

"Where'd you say you were headed again?" asked the kindly older gentleman Loki had convinced to drive him north.

Loki smiled and materialized an apple to munch on. "I don't exactly know."

"Hey, now, that's a pretty nifty trick. Got another one in there somewhere?" The old man moved his gaze quickly between the road and the mischief-maker beside him.

It was only fair, Loki surmised. An apple in exchange for transportation. Even Odin would never be able to find anything wrong with that. He flicked his wrist as another perfectly red apple appeared in his hand. He set it up on the dashboard.

The man smiled, and it took years off his face. "I've not seen anything like that since I was real small."

"Oh, you've seen something of the sort?" Loki chuckled softly. He doubted the man had, but it couldn't hurt to make small talk. At least it distracted him from his missing bride.

The man nodded. "There was a man in the village where I grew up. He was a master at making things appear from nothing."

Loki chuckled again. "I doubt he used the same techniques as I."

"Oh, I don't know. I never thought to ask him how he did it. I was too enthralled with what he did."

Loki smiled wanly. He knew what that felt like. Even now, as he scoured worlds to find her, he realized he had never truly gotten to know Sigyn. He had been too enthralled with the idea of having her as his own. As shy and quiet as she was, he had not taken time to try to break down those walls. He had coped with whatever she did and made adjustments to accommodate strange behavior.

The old man bit off part of the apple and studied Loki as best as he could. "So... north, huh?"

Loki nodded and suddenly found the apple in his hand utterly fascinating.

"Why north? Seems most people nowadays only want to go south. Warmer weather, nicer beaches. That sort of stuff."

Loki shrugged. "I'm looking for someone," he answered simply. Not a lie, exactly, but not the whole truth either.

"This someone a woman?"

Loki looked out the window. "I requested transportation, not constant badgering."

The man laughed, a breathy sound that ended when he nearly choked. He coughed. "It always is."

Loki ignored the statement and watched the water droplets trickle sideways down the glass beside him. Another hit one that had made it halfway across the plane, shattering it into a million pieces. Like his heart.

He rolled his eyes. He hadn't meant to think like that. It had just come up. He didn't want to feel like his world had splintered around him and he couldn't find the fragments. But, he could not stop replaying the look of pure terror on Sigyn's face. The blood splashed across her golden slippers. The way that man looked at her possessively.

Something squawked, snapping Loki out of his daze.

"What was that?" he quickly demanded to know.

The man reached to a contraption atop the dash and fiddled with a switch. "It's a radio. Something about the local police. More like local ghostbusters if you ask me, always playing around with who-knows-what. SHIELD, I think they call themselves."

"SHIELD," Loki mulled. "An interesting name." He pried at another piece of apple and poised to pop it into his mouth. "What is their function?"

"Like I said, local cops. Only because we don't have any _real_ police force around here. Honestly, they're more interested in UFOs and close encounters than keeping the peace. But, they get the job done amiably so no one complains."

"Interesting," Loki repeated himself.

They drove and drove until the sun had nearly set, and then the old man pulled to the side of the road.

"Why are we stopping?" Loki wanted to know.

"Just a quick cat nap."

Loki was unsure what a "cat nap" was, but he was sure he didn't have time for it.

North.

Something tugged him from the vehicle and he placed his feet on the solid road and started forward. Sigyn was north, so north he would go. He would keep going until he found her. He would never give up. Not for all the treasures in all the realms. Because Sigyn was worth every one of them.


	15. Chapter 15

Her head still hadn't stopped spinning. Not a single bit. She could have walked right out the front door... if she had been able to stand.

All around her, she could hear girls whispering, crying. Some yelling. Something told her this was a bad place. A place she never would have dreamed about if she had only stayed on Asgard and let Loki take his own life in that fight. If only she had been able to quell her undying fidelity for one measly night. But, alas, she had been able to do no such thing.

He wouldn't come. She knew it in the deepest pit of her stomach. He cared naught for her. If he cared, he would not have broken their marriage vows over and over again. Would not have brought others into the bed that should have been hers.

Sigyn rolled sideways and clasped her arms around her belly. She felt sick. And shaky. Whatever they were going to do to her, she knew she would not be able to fight it.

Sigyn barely managed to slide to the floor. She wanted to retch every bit of food she had eaten in the past three days. Her eyes blurred. She tried to fight it, but she couldn't. So she gave in to the dizziness. Her head felt like the Bifrost had opened inside it and never shut off. Everything pounded. She braced herself on all fours.

The sound of a clucking tongue pulled her back to the precipice of sanity. "You do not handle this very well, do you?" Maxim cooed, squatted beside her, and petted her hair. "I have never seen a reaction this... bizarre."

She swatted his hand away. "What... what did you... give me?" Sigyn asked through gritted teeth. Even forming the words was a challenge.

Maxim laughed. "Something to relax you. Do not worry. It won't be long now. The buyers are arriving, and soon you'll be off to a new life, Starr."

"I do not wish a new life!" She let her temper get the better of her, just once, and spat on him. "I despise you."

He chuckled, one so close to Loki's mischievous laugh that once again she found herself wondering if this was not the Trickster himself. "I like your spirit. Perhaps I should keep you for myself." He leaned close to her ear. So close she could feel his breath whisper against it. It revolted her. "If you would not bring in such a large bounty, I would do just that."

She didn't want to hear how much he could get for her. She didn't care. She would do what she had to do to survive, but none of it mattered now that she knew Loki didn't love her. She could die in any manner conceivable, and nothing would hurt as much as that knowledge.

Maxim gripped her arm tightly and pulled her to a standing position. She thought to pull away, but again her limbs didn't do as she desired.

Down the hall again, into a small room with mirrors all around. He shoved her in and closed the door behind her.

Sigyn stumbled to catch her balance and caught sight of herself. Hair hung in her face, disguising her features from any who might see. And she was grateful. The girl staring back at her looked nothing like the girl she knew. Dark circles around her eyes. Hair that hung in strings instead of silken curls. So much skin showing that she feared she would freeze or burn from exposure to the atmosphere. She looked like... one of the women she had seen when they brought her there. Just another one of the girl who would be auctioned.

Sigyn pressed a hand to her mouth and held in a sob. Her eyes turned a pinkish-red at the force of the tears behind them. But she refused to give in. She would not cry for what she had lost.

Something crashed nearby, and Maxim's uneducated handymen rushed into the room and tugged her out with them. They turned down a nearly imperceptible hallway, which meant Sigyn only caught a glimpse of the uniformed men and women pointing some form of weapon at Maxim's underlings.

One of the uniformed personnel appeared in front of her, and Sigyn could have wept with joy. Maxim's man – the same one from the van – pulled her close and put a knife to her throat. Again.

"Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to put your weapon down," the uniformed man requested.

The man wrapped an arm around her stomach, pulling her tighter to him. "I will not. She comes with me."

It didn't matter anymore. None of it mattered. Loki didn't care, and she would never see him again. Oh, she was furious at Loki for leaving her like this. If he didn't want her, he might have said so earlier. She almost wanted to give up her love for him.

Sigyn felt the rage rising up within her. She was tired of being pushed around by this mortal man. A man with no status and no means of control over her, save chains and a dagger. On Asgard, such a thing would not even be thought of, let alone acted upon.

An enraged scream erupted from her. With small swirls of green light illuminating her fingers, Sigyn pushed the man's arms away and shoved him against the nearest wall.

The second man slumped to the floor beside his friend, blood oozing from a shoulder wound.

Sigyn looked at them in shock and dismay. What had she done? The shoulder wound had not been her doing.

"Ma'am," the uniformed man put his weapon away and reached a hand out to her. "I'm going to need you to come with me. We'll get you someplace safe, alright? Just come this way. Come on. It's all going to be okay."

Still utterly surprised at what she had unwittingly done, Sigyn took a step toward him. And then another. Until he grasped her elbow and steered her toward a door at the end of the corridor.

He pressed a button on some device strapped to his shoulder. "This is Agent Markov. I have an O-84, stand by for transport."

"What is this..." Sigyn swallowed and forced the words up and off her tongue. "...this O, eight, four? That which you speak of."

Agent Markov opened the door and cold, cold air assaulted Sigyn's nerves. She gripped her arms tighter around herself, thankful at least for her long hair that shielded some of her exposed skin from the elements. If only she had a cloak to further protect her.

"It's just a code, ma'am." Suddenly, a vehicle appeared from the darkness.

Sigyn balked, despite the rain beginning to freeze her further. "Forgive me, but I do not wish to ride in one of these contraptions again. The last time was... less than desirable."

The agent paused. "Ma'am, I'm afraid we'll have to take you in one of these. It's procedure. The only way to keep you safe."

Safe. What was really safe away from the life she knew in Asgard? Sigyn nodded once and finally allowed herself to move over the threshold and into the black horseless carriage. The agent slid in beside her. She couldn't explain the feeling of everything closing in on her, or the way her breath caught before it rolled from her mouth or nostrils. She couldn't explain the dread that crept into her bones and took up residence. They said she would be safe... but Sigyn thought otherwise.

The building they brought her to offered her next clue. Long, low, metal. Unwelcoming. It neither made her feel safe or wanted, but Sigyn had little choice other than to follow the agents inside. The male agents disappeared shortly, leaving the females in charge. Sigyn wondered if she might seek solace in them, but quickly decided she could not.

One of the women produced a small pile of grey linens from a nearby cabinet. She settled them on a bench and took a step back. "You'll probably find these more comfortable than what you have on." She looked a bit disdainfully at the apparel Sigyn had almost forgotten she wore.

"Yes. Thank you." Sigyn unfurled them to see a simple grey shirt and a pair of grey trousers. They would be warmer, certainly. She was unsure if they would be more comfortable. The fabric felt scratchy against her hand. However, obediently, she removed her wet raiments and slipped into the new ones offered her. The sleeves reached only to a point a few inches above her elbow joints.

"What is that?" one of the women pointed to Sigyn's finger. Her ring finger.

Sigyn held up her hand, frankly amazed it was still there after the whole ordeal with Maxim. How had he not seen it and taken it. She clutched it closer to herself and closed her eyes. Oh, what luck, to still have a part of Loki for herself.

The woman cleared her throat. "What language is that? What does it say?"

Sigyn knew it by heart. Asgardian letters depicted a saying of unique depth for the relationship she and Loki hazarded. She sighed and repeated the phrase emblazoned on her ring. " _Jeg_ _tilh_ _ø_ _rer_ _min_ _kj_ _æ_ _rlighet_."

A nod. "We'll need that for examination. You understand."

No. She didn't. Sigyn's eyes shot open and she clutched her hand to her chest. "You cannot have it. It is..." she thought about it. What did it really meant to her? "It is my vow."

"I'm sorry," the woman reached for Sigyn's hand and slid the ring off.

Sigyn vaulted forward, intent on wresting it back, but found herself restrained by many more female agents. She pushed harder. "Give it back!" Their arms tugged against her, pulling her away and out of the room. She lost her shoes somewhere near the door. "Give it back!" She yelled again, stretching out to reach it. But to no avail. Against her will, the agents dragged Sigyn down more hallways than she dared to count.


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: A quick shout-out to Nerdy Fangirl 1739! Thanks for noticing the work that went into that inscription from the ring. It's actually what I call "in a pinch Asgardian", which is a mix of Old Norse and modern Norwegian. Translated, Sigyn's ring says, "I belong to my love". I'm a complete language/word nerd, so thanks for giving me the chance to explain about that :D**

* * *

The imbecile mortal had been right when he said to travel north. Loki found himself at the barrier of what appeared to be some sort of raid. A metal building in an odd shape, surrounded by many black vehicles. And just his luck that the symbols on the side announced their title.

S.H.I.E.L.D.

Interesting that it would be the same agency the old man in the horseless carriage had spoken of only hours before. Loki tucked that piece of information away in the back of his mind. He couldn't interrupt them. They were – as the old man had said – local ghostbusters. Or alien hunters. Either way, Loki was more than sure they would find him odd and wish to interrogate him. He was only here to find a way to find Sigyn. He threw up a shield to protect himself as rain pounded from the sky.

One by one, these S.H.I.E.L.D officers led women from the front door. Each woman thinner and deader than the last. Vacant eyes bespoke horrors Loki had not witnessed, and multitudes of tears bespoke their relief at being rescued. He lifted his chin and studied each one. Some bore bruises, while others did not. All had far too little clothing for such a cold night.

A door on the side of the building burst open, and Loki craned his neck to see what was going on. One of the agents escorted a lady from the chaos. No, not just a lady. Loki's lady.

He stood to his feet and found he could not move for the shock. Sigyn, abducted by men who would treat her as they had those other girls? He was glad they were all being towed away in chains. They deserved death, and had they still been free men he would have glady acquiesced.

He had never seen Sigyn in such a state. In such clothes. With so much perfect, porcelain skin exposed to the elements. Rain dampened her flesh and ran down her limbs. Her long, long hair soaked in the moisture and clung to her like a second skin. She had no bruises, which meant she had not been harmed. The sight of her had the capacity to make Loki weep with joy. At the same time, he could not help but feel saddened that he had never seen her in so little.

Suddenly, the agent pushed her into a horseless carriage and it careened away.

Something didn't sit right in Loki's gut. He narrowed his eyes and mulled it over. They hadn't even offered her a blanket or a towel, a courtesy he could now see them offering to the other women. And he hadn't liked the shocked and frightened look on her face. Something was wrong.

He wouldn't lose her again. Not like this. Not to these people. Loki easily teleported himself – rain shield and all – to the roof of one of the vehicles. As a last-second decision, he added a secondary invisibility shield. No need to alert them to his presence. He only needed them to take him to her.

And, as he knew they would, they idiot mortals did just that.

The vehicles parked in some sort of dark, leveled building, and Loki easily followed them through doors and up... oh, what did they call them? Lifts. That was it. Until he found himself in a bright entryway with spidering hallways. He looked around and wondered which way they had taken his beautiful Sigyn.

There was nothing to do but investigate, so Loki dropped the rain shield and kept the invisibility shield. He moved down the nearest hallway, hoping to see her face or hear her voice. Everything was eerily quiet in this place, as if no one really lived here at all.

Corridor after endless white corridor, Loki searched for any sign of her. After a while, he stumbled upon a long hallway with glass windows running the length. Something in the pit of his stomach told him to search them.

Most, when he looked in, were empty. The windows were viewing areas for larger rooms, and in those rooms were either one or two large glass cages. He didn't know what they were for, but he certainly didn't like the look of them. What could they possibly keep in such a place? Something monstrous, surely.

Halfway down the hallway, he stopped. No, of course they didn't keep anything monstrous in these cages. They kept only rare, precious things. The view from this window was much lovelier, for in one of the two glass cages sat his missing wife. She sat with her head on her knees, her shoulders shaking as though she sobbed. The grey fabric clung to certain wet spots on her person, and her hair still stuck to her head, face, and arms. Her feet were bare. Loki opened the door easily and entered. Sigyn never looked up.

Now, what could affect his wife so terribly that she would cry in a corner of a cage? And why had they put her in a cage in the first place? Sigyn was a danger to no one, least of all the Midgardians who had rescued her. He slowly let the invisibility slip from around him, starting at his head and working down to his feet.

"I've said it before, I cannot stand the sight of a woman's tears." He folded his hands neatly behind his back and stood straight.

Sigyn turned her head to look at him and hiccupped a sob. She wrinkled her nose, a habit she only had when she was adamantly angry. "Oh, just go away, Loki. Leave me be."

"I've come to take you home." He wouldn't let her toss him aside that easily. She could never find her way home alone. She was much too fragile to break out of here.

She turned her head away from him and her shoulders shook yet again. "You never cared before, so stop pretending."

That wasn't like her. She had never spouted such nonsense before. What had the Midgardians done to her? Of course he had come for her. And of course he cared. He had always cared, or had she not noticed that he married her? No, something was off. "What's wrong?"

"They took it!" Sigyn wailed, scrambling to her feet. She faced him with that long hair still stuck across her face and her eyes turning redder the longer she cried.

"Took what?" He looked her up and down, looking for anything missing. Anything that would say they had harmed her. "Your slippers? Your dress? I can replace those things. Come, we must go."

With an anger he had never seen, she held up her hand to expose her ring finger. "My wedding band!"

Oh. That. Loki sighed in relief. At least they had not harmed her. "I will find another."

"No!" She screamed at him, the same instant sirens resounded through the building. She shook her head and pressed a hand to her mouth. He had seen the look before, when she couldn't believe something.

"Why not?" the sirens concerned him. They didn't have much time. "It is only a piece of jewelry."

"It's the only part of you that's mine!" Sigyn dropped, curled into a ball, and sobbed even harder. There would be no consoling her now.

The levity of what she had said hit Loki like Mjolnir against his chest, and he dropped his hands. The only part of him that was hers? What could she mean by it? He had given her everything. A new life, a home, a secure place to lay her head. What more could she want from him? What did she think of him? Had she seen the other women he had brought into his room? Was that her concern? Surely she knew he could never love them like he loved her. Not in a million centuries.

Hands grabbed his arms and forced him to his knees, and Loki didn't even fight them. His Sigyn still cried into her arms, with no one to comfort her and no way to convince her he was sincere. Loki's heart shattered with hers.


	17. Chapter 17

Sigyn didn't know what was going on around her. All she knew was that her ring was gone and Loki had lied to her. He had acted like he cared, but he hadn't even noticed her ring no longer sat on her hand. The man who noticed everything had overlooked the most important aspect of her despair. She was sure he had left, as she had heard the sirens and he had stopped talking. With a nickname like Silver-tongue, for him to stop talking meant a miracle or he had left. She would bet gold on the latter. He only ever looked out for himself.

Why had she ever loved him in the first place? Why did that stupid ring mean so much to her? He had married her and forgotten her, never glancing her way with the eye of a lover or the smile of a mate. Not so much as a kiss since their wedding day. At least, not one that he meant. He would occasionally kiss her hand while in Odin or Thor's presence or her lips if someone spoke out that he wasn't being attentive enough. But, they were all lies. When she was alone with him – and that didn't happen often, either – he only ignored her presence and focused instead on his books or his newest adulterous conquest.

Eventually, her tears ebbed, and Sigyn lowered her hands from her eyes. She would accept her fate and do as she was told in this life without Loki. This life without love. She tucked her fists under her chin and closed her swollen eyes.

"Sigyn? Are you well?"

"Loki?" She pried her eyes open. This had to be a dream. Surely she had fallen asleep and this was what plagued her thoughts. She rolled halfway to see where the voice had come from. It must be another cruel trick. Her eyes caught sight of him in the cell near hers, and she stared. It couldn't be him. He had left, hadn't he? It must be one of his doubles, sent to turn her insane.

Unless, of course, she was already insane.

"Are you well?" he repeated. He looked adequately concerned.

Sigyn blinked lazily. "Why are you still here?" she asked, and then turned to face the other way again. "Go home, if you haven't already."

"I cannot," he said simply. Quietly. In fact, she had only ever heard him use that voice to soothe her. Once long ago, when she was a shy girl. And now.

She rolled her head to look at him again. Even if it was a double, she could at least memorize his features one last time. "What do you mean? You came in freely."

"Yes, and they captured me alongside you."

Oh, yes. She was going to believe _that_ blatant lie. If he or one of his doubles was in that cage, he had a good reason for it. A reason that was most definitely not concern for her.

"No one captures you without your consent. And no one can hold you in a cage made of glass." She closed her eyes again. "Please stop torturing me, Loki. If you're going to let them kill me, just go away and let me resign myself to it. Don't hold out hope so I feel every ounce of pain in the smallest crevice of my heart."

"Kill you?" Her eyes popped open long enough to see him shoot to his feet. "Have they made any such threats upon your person? Would they dare to do such a thing?"

"I don't know. Just go away." Sigyn curled her arms around herself. This floor was just as comfortable as the flat cot, she was sure. The mattress was barely an inch thick, if that. So she wouldn't move. She ached too much, inside and out, to move.

"Sigyn, have they talked about ending your life? Is that their plan?" His voice escalated to something concerned, almost frantic.

Sigyn shook her head slowly. "They haven't said anything. Now, please, leave me alone. This is cruel. Please, if you ever loved me at all, cease your prattle and let me die alone."

She heard the Loki look-alike shift in his own cage. "I do not understand your words, sweet Sigyn, but I will honor them. Goodnight, my love." His words, barely more than a whisper, somehow found their way to her ears and lulled her to a peaceful slumber.

* * *

Loki settled onto the edge of the hard, small bed and studied his sleeping wife. They would have many things to speak of when she woke. Like why she thought he would allow her death, when he had worked so hard to save her. Or why she suddenly pushed him away, when he only wanted to reach out and touch her. Make sure she was alright.

And he would, if he thought she would let him. The things she had said... she had yelled at him. He had never, in his life, heard Sigyn raise her voice. If he hadn't been so shocked and horrified at her outburst, he probably would have found it amusing.

What could possibly have given her the impression that he didn't love her? He did love her, he had always loved her. For her beauty. For her innocence. For her unconditional love. For being her. He wished he could reach through the glass and stroke aside her tangled mass of curls. That he could soothe her dreams and tell her it would all be alright. But, he knew, he had to get to the bottom of her dismay first. And that would start in the morning.

He settled into a position where he could watch over her sleep.


	18. Chapter 18

Sigyn woke, but her eyes were so crusted over from her tears that she could not open them. Every muscle ached from sleeping in such a ball, and she slowly stretched first her arms, then her legs.

It took several minutes for her mind to adjust to where she knew she was. In a cage. Captured by people she didn't know. For reasons she could only imagine. With a groan, she reached a hand to pluck at the crusty substance sealing her eyes shut. Her nimble fingers easily tore away the disgusting remnants of her unwanted tears.

"Morning, ma'am."

Sigyn pried open one eye and looked up at the agent towering over her. He looked familiar. She studied him further. Dark hair. Light eyes. Firm build. Oh, yes. She knew him. He had been both her protector and her captor. He hadn't given a name. Had he? Oh, wait. Yes he had. Agent Markov.

He reached a hand down to take hold of her arm and assisted her to her feet. "Sorry about all that trouble last night. I'm going to need you to come with me this morning. We have some questions for you."

Sigyn listlessly allowed him to lead her toward the cage door.

"Where are you taking her?" a voice demanded from the next cage over. She had almost forgotten his presence. Sigyn turned briefly to look at him. Maybe it was Loki, in the flesh. His doubles had never stayed this long. Not even for one of his practical jokes.

Agent Markov gave Loki a peculiar sort of look and twin lines appeared in the center of his brow. "Why do you care?" Markov's hand tightened around her arm, maybe involuntarily or maybe not.

Sigyn winced.

Loki pressed up against the glass barrier. "You're hurting her!"

The pressure Markov had been applying eased slightly, and he tossed Sigyn an apologetic glance. Without another word, he steered her for the hallway. Her bare feet stuck slightly to the cold, hard floor. It must be some sort of stone, she assumed.

"If you hurt her, I swear I'll—"

Sigyn didn't hear what he would do, because the door slammed shut behind her and Markov propelled her down the bright hall. For some reason, it didn't appear that Midgardians used fire for light anymore. The white harshness in this facility seemed to come from a long tube of white luminescence. She wasn't sure what it was called or where they had found it, but she had never seen the element before.

Her wonder was cut short when Agent Markov pulled open another door and escorted her into a room with a large mirror on one wall. The only furniture was a chair, which he sat her in and attached her wrists to the sides with chains.

"Standard procedure," he declared. "We just don't want you to run away or something."

She had seen chains like this before. Odin used them for dangerous criminals, to keep them from hurting anyone else. Sigyn looked up at him, now aware what they really thought of her. She was no more than a prisoner. And she was fairly certain he wanted to break her.

* * *

Loki beat a hand against the glass wall and stared after them. He didn't know where the curse had come from, it just spilled out. And he meant it. If they hurt his Sigyn, no one on Midgard or Asgard could stop him from seeking his revenge on them.

With a growl, he stepped away from his spot and began to pace. He didn't have a clock, or any other way to tell time. He didn't know which direction they had taken her. He didn't even know the man's name. Which, by the end of the day, he would remedy. If Sigyn had a single scratch on her when they returned her to this room, he could make no promises about anyone's safety.

Luminescent green fog flickered around his fingers, shooting out in sparks and peaks, as his rage boiled in his stomach. He felt his entire body tense. Minutes ticked by like hours. Sigyn really should have been back by now. He dreaded to think of the tortures they may be putting her through.

The door opened, and Loki spun to face it. It took all his strength to quench the magic tickling his fingertips. As the god of chaos and mischief, he could easily lose control. He mustn't. He had to look out for Sigyn, and if they killed him or took him away from her, he wouldn't be able to do so.

He shot to his spot by the glass. "Did they hurt you?"

Sigyn looked up at him and shook her head slightly. But, something was still wrong. She looked as though she had been crying again. He so hated to see her cry, and to top it all off he had no idea what they had said to her to cause the episode.

The Agent sealed her back in her cage and pressed a button on his shoulder. Several more men in dark, black outfits came in. They all set their sights on Loki's cage.

Loki did a once-over of Sigyn, noting the slightly red marks around her wrists and a slight discoloration of the skin around her upper arm. Yes, perhaps calling in backup had been this Agents smartest move thus far. It would take all of them to hold him back if he found they had done more than bruised her. He turned his head to study them and allowed them to escort him from the room.

He noted passageways as they walked, as well as the fact he towered a good three inches above any of the agents around him. A smirk of satisfaction settled on his lips. He always did like to be in control. And it was easier to feel in control when one was taller than all those around him.

Even when they settled him in a chair and strapped his wrists down, Loki didn't wipe the smirk from his face. They could do what they wanted to him. He was in control.

"What's your name?" The first agent asked as the others stationed themselves around the room.

Loki eyed each one, noting when they looked nervous or scared. All things he could use to his advantage. He kept his head low and studied each of them by lifting his eyes as far as they would go. He knew from experience that it lent a certain menacing look to his demeanor. He didn't answer the question. They could do nothing to him that would force him to answer their questions.

The Agent whipped the back of his hand across Loki's face. It barely stung, even though the force turned his head. "What's your name?"

Loki chuckled and lifted his eyes. "You'll have to do better than that."

"Tough guy, huh?" The Agent stretched his arm and flexed his hand. "A lot tougher than that girl you seem to care so much about. How do you know her, anyway?"

Loki narrowed his eyes and stared the Agent down. "Is this what you did to her? Beat her until she talked? She knows nothing."

"No." He shook his head and braced himself, supposedly to strike another blow. "Unlike what you seem to think, we treat women with respect around here."

"Oh, but not men? Is that it?" The Agent hit him again, and again Loki chuckled. "You really need to improve your swing if you intend to harm me, mortal."

With a raise of his eyebrow, the Agent turned to another man and beckoned. He turned back around with a small golden object in his fingers. "We took this off of her. Some kind of ring. But, you know what? No one around here seems to know what this language on it is."

Loki pulled taught against his bonds. Sigyn's wedding band. And of course they hadn't known what the language was. It was Asgardian, and their pathetic little minds could not comprehend it.

"Oh, so you know what this is? Who it belongs to?" The Agent leaned down, close enough to make eye contact but far enough that Loki couldn't reach him. "Make you a deal. You start talking. Tell us where you're from, what language this is, what we stumbled onto."

"And in return?" Loki bit out. He didn't like this man, and nothing he did could get him to talk. Still, he was intrigued.

"In return," the Agent handed the ring back to the other man and stuffed his hands in his pockets. "In return, we leave the girl alone. No beatings. No torture. Just observation."

Loki weighed his options. He could not let them harm Sigyn, but he could not tell them all they wished to know either. He sighed. "Counter offer. I will allow you to beat me and torture me all you want. If you succeed in extracting the information, so be it. But, even if you do not succeed, you leave... _her_... alone."


	19. Chapter 19

The agents brought Loki back to the cell beaten and bruised and threw him to the floor. He stumbled and settled there, still as death. One of the agents threw a look at Sigyn, shook his head, and turned away. The door clicked shut behind him.

Sigyn pressed against the glass closest to his cage and whispered one, almost unintelligible word. "Loki?"

He peeked one eye open. "Have they gone?"

"Yes," she nodded. "But I think they have eyes in the walls. A large black one has been following my movements since you left."

Loki sighed and clucked his tongue. "Speak in Asgardian, just in case." He smiled at her. "I'll just have to put on an act for their benefit." He groaned and laboriously pulled himself to a sitting position against the wall.

Sigyn rolled her eyes. Once a trickster, always a trickster. She moved to the other side of the cage and folded her arms across her chest. Faithful she may be, but her eyes had opened. He didn't love her. She didn't understand why he was still there. "What did they attempt to do to you?"

"Forget about me for a moment," Loki instructed, his eyes intensifying as he set his jaw. "What did they do to you? Did they hurt you? Please, Sigyn, spare me no detail."

"They did nothing but ask questions," Sigyn spat. "And of course I'll forget about you. Just like you've forgotten about me." She turned her back on him and shut her eyes tightly. It was very difficult to fight against oneself, and everything within her wanted his words to be true. But, she knew better than to believe them. He was the _god of lies_.

"Sigyn, love, I do not understand what you mean."

The words struck her heart and dug into its soft flesh. She spun to face him with fire in her eyes. "Do not call me that! You do not deserve to have those words come flying from your silver-lined mouth. I am not your love because you never claimed me, Loki. So take all your beautiful words and choke on them!" She turned back around, in the same position as before.

She heard him shift position, still putting on an act for the men watching, no doubt. He sighed. "I do not understand what you mean. I claimed you the day I promised myself to you from that day forward. The day we were wed. You are mine, Sigyn, like it or not, and I intend to keep you."

"Why?" She squeezed her eyes to stop the tears, but it only made them fall all the harder.

"Why?" He echoed. "Because you are mine. I wouldn't throw you out. I wouldn't dream it. You are far more precious to me than that."

"No, I am not." Sigyn shook her head. She could feel the rage climbing inside her. "You don't care. You never have. So just go away and leave me here to rot."

Loki heaved a great sigh. She could hear the exasperation in his voice. The anger just under the surface. She had made him angry. Well, too bad. Because he had long ago made her angrier. She wasn't about to back down now, especially when she knew he didn't love her. "Why would you ever think that?"

Sigyn spun again and flailed her arms wildly, "Because you don't! Do you think I'm stupid, Loki?"

"Of course not. I would never dishonor your intelligence so. Why would you think _that_?"

"I've seen them!" She cried. "The endless parade of women, noble and street trash alike, that you've had in some obscure corner of the palace. You practically flaunt them before me! I'd have to be blind and an idiot to be oblivious to them."

"Oh, that." He sighed yet again. "I do not think you're stupid, Sigyn. I am the god of mischief and chaos. They practically expect this of me. That still doesn't answer why you think I don't want you."

"How could you?!" Sigyn, utterly exhausted, dropped to the floor and rested her hands in her lap. She let her hair fall into her face to hide her tears. Her final statement came out as a low whisper. "You never even consummated our marriage."

* * *

Loki blinked at her and furrowed his brow. Had one simple act – or lack of one simple act – really caused her to believe he could never want her? Could never love her? She was the most perfect women he had ever met. Shy, perhaps, and a bit introverted, but easy to get along with and infinitely interesting. Could it really be his fault that she thought he would leave her to die?

No. He refused to believe that. He had done all that was in his power to provide for her. To keep her safe. So what if he had never "consummated their marriage"? He had other women for that sort of thing. How could she be offended that he treated her differently from every other woman?

"Do you remember the first time we met?" he asked, hoping to lighten the mood.

Sigyn scoffed at him and pressed her palms into her eyes. "Stop acting like you care. It only makes this hurt worse."

"Please, Sigyn?" He stared at her with earnest eyes, silently beseeching her to speak with him. He could live with her hatred if only she would speak with him civilly.

She sighed and didn't lift her eyes from her hands. "We were children. You played some trick or another. I've worked hard to scrub it from my memories."

Loki smiled. He hadn't. He loved that trick. Not because he had met her, that thought hadn't come until much later. But, rather, because it was a good trick. "I remember it. You were playing in the gardens while your father and mother attended some banquet or another. I just wanted to see what you would do if something backed you into a corner." The look on her face when the snakes surrounded her had been priceless, as well.

"I hated you for that." The tone in her voice said she still might.

Loki made a show of pulling himself to the wall of glass between them. They Midgardians had to believe they had the upper hand. Even if he was no more hurt than he had been when he ran himself into a door. "Why won't you look at me?"

"It hurts." Sigyn dropped her arms across her knees and rested her forehead on them.

Suddenly, Loki longed to see her beautiful eyes. Deep green eyes that more closely resembled a perfect emerald jewel than the sea. He had always loved it when she brought herself to look at him. And the instances had been few and far between. He wanted her to look at him now more than ever. To show him that there was still some hope of regaining her love. But her eyes remained hidden.

In a desperate last-ditch attempt, Loki tried once more to engage her in conversation. "Do you remember how I used to make it seem, as children, that you played those tricks?"

"The ones on the other children?" She shook her head against her arms, making her long curls sway. "Mother and father were simply _furious_! 'Stay far from the Liesmith', they warned me. But..." finally, he caught sight of her eyes as she glanced up. "I thought you were very interesting, despite my hatred of you."

Loki smiled at her. "Perhaps it was not such a good idea to find me interesting. It only proved to make me try that much harder to play tricks that you could be blamed for."

"Why me?" She dropped her head again.

Loki wanted to reach out and stroke her hair, wipe her tears. Even if he could reach her, she would never allow it. So he answered her question with a sigh. "Because you were the only one who didn't run away screaming."

"I did!" Sigyn insisted. "Many, _many_ times!"

"But you always came back." Loki grinned like a Cheshire cat. "Nobody else ever did that."

"Obviously I was stupid."

"Stop calling yourself stupid!" Loki demanded harshly. "You are not stupid, Sigyn. You are the most intelligent girl I have ever had the privilege of knowing. All those hours in the library have gifted you with a brain that is far superior to any of your peers. You are intelligent, logical. To degrade yourself to anything less is an abomination."

Sigyn lifted her head to stare at him, her mouth agape. She blinked rapidly.

Loki had seen the look before. She was stunned. Stunned and utterly disbelieving that he had said such a thing to her. He loved that look on her. That look of complete and utter distrust. Because he knew he could make that look go away. He had before, and he would now. It was as simple as that.


	20. Chapter 20

Sigyn didn't sleep. She couldn't bring herself to sleep. He had meant what he said, when he had said she wasn't stupid. Every word. And, deep down, she had believed him. At least that much was true, that even if he didn't love her anymore, he didn't think she was stupid enough to overlook all that he had done right in front of her.

She wanted to believe he could change. She wanted to believe she could forgive him. But she no longer knew. She didn't know if her temper would get the better of her, or if he really had changed. What if this was just another of his tricks?

Loki had fallen asleep sometime in the wee hours of the morning, if her calculations were intact. She watched him sleep, so peaceful and gentle. If only he could be like that once he woke.

"Who is he, anyway?"

Sigyn turned to see Agent Markov in the door to her cage. She narrowed her eyes at him and remained quiet. Loki wouldn't want her to say, she was sure of that.

Markov extended a hand in her direction. "Come on. I'm supposed to collect you."

"Why?" Sigyn shimmied into the nearest corner and pulled her knees to her chest. She missed having layers and layers of skirts to hide behind. These new clothes made her feel too... exposed.

"I don't want to have to hurt you. Please just come with me." Markov held his hand even farther toward her. "Please, ma'am."

"Where are we going?" Instinctively, Sigyn tossed a look to her husband's sleeping form. If only he would wake, then perhaps they would not take her. Oh, who was she kidding? He would do nothing to save her from them. Sigyn sighed.

Markov followed her gaze. "He can't do anything to you or for you."

She nodded listlessly. Markov was right. She slid to her feet and padded to Markov's side. She wouldn't fight it. She had decided that long ago. She would take what they had for her and would live or die with her dignity intact. Sigyn folded her hands in front of herself and bowed her head submissively.

"Sorry about all of this." Markov wrapped a hand around her arm and escorted her from the room.

They didn't turn down the same halls as last time. Sigyn watched the lighting change, growing brighter and harsher, as they went in the opposite direction. She didn't think she liked these bright lights. She would rather have the gentle Asgardian sun shining down upon her. These frightened her, as though something within them would hold her down and tear out her soul.

Markov stopped before a solid wooden door and rapped twice.

A woman in white answered the door and smiled up at him. Her expression changed when she saw Sigyn trying to cower behind his large frame. "So, this is the O-84?"

"One of them." Markov shrugged. "Not even sure where the other one came from, to be honest."

"Mm-hmm." The woman in white glanced over Sigyn from head to foot, then nodded behind her into the room. "Come on in. I've been told to run some tests. Is that information correct?"

"It is," Markov confirmed, pulling Sigyn into the room behind him.

Sigyn looked around. She didn't want to be here. There had to be a reason they had come while Loki slept. He had been so vocal against their taking her the night before. If they were anything like her, he frightened them. She couldn't very well blame them. When he was angry, Loki was the most frightening man in the universe.

The room frightened her more than what they would do to her. Sterile and white with a hard bed in the center. It very much reminded her of the healing tables on Asgard, but this one was much less homey and inviting. This one had straps attached to either side, and two more at the foot of it. The straps looked more like the chains prisoners were subjected to. And the needles. Needles everywhere. On the tables, shelves, and even some hanging on the walls.

Instinctively, Sigyn stopped walking. "Please. No." She shook her head at Markov, unable to get the full plea out of her mouth. She didn't want them to do this. To treat her like one of the tests Loki used to make sure a spell worked. She was a person, even if she was not mortal.

"Sorry," Markov apologized. He shrugged and pulled her farther into the room.

Sigyn backed away from him as far as she could. He was surprisingly strong, and kept a firm grasp on her wrist.

Markov strapped her wrists to the hard table first, then used all his strength to hold her legs still while he incapacitated her completely.

Sigyn screamed and fought the restraints, but they held her fast. Still, though she knew it would be futile, she used all the strength she had left to tug and tear at the fabric trapping her down.

The woman in white held up one of those needles and studied it. "If you don't stop moving, this could very well bruise."

Sigyn hissed at her and bared her teeth. If manners didn't work, maybe they would be remiss to attack an insane woman. She clawed her toes into the end of the bed, trying to get some form of leverage to release her limbs.

Markov planted his hands on her shoulders and pushed her back against the hard metal and the semi-soft cushion. He held firm, even as much as she whined and pushed against him. "Sigyn!" he said sternly.

That was enough to make her pause. She tossed her head to glare at him. Had he said that or had she imagined it?

"That's your name, isn't it?" he asked, nodding as though to reassure both of them that it was all alright. "That's what he called you? Sigyn?"

What did she do? What did she say? She had never meant to disclose her name. Surely someone would make the connection to the Midgardian tales from the North. Some based in truth, some based in prophecy. Some completely made up. Whatever it was, she didn't want to affirm her identity. So she just stared.

"We aren't going to hurt you," Markov continued. "We just have to run some tests. Standard protocol. We made a deal with him. We won't hurt you."

Something pricked one of her arms, somewhere around the inside of her elbow joint, but Sigyn was too preoccupied to realize it. She didn't understand what he meant. Loki would never make a deal like that. He would never. No. They had to be lying. This all had to be a nightmare or an enormous lie. She didn't know anymore.

The long, slim needle slid from her arm and a second followed into the same wound.

This time, Sigyn turned her head to look. Well, she meant to "look", nonchalant. What she really did was glare. A single curl fell in front of her eyes when she lifted them to study the woman. They were taking her blood. A lot of it. And the woman didn't even look perplexed. She seemed... calm.

After a minute, Sigyn began to feel dizzy, and she leaned her head back to take a deep breath.

"That's enough," Markov instructed. "Much more and he'll be able to tell. We can take more in a few days."

The woman finished drawing the vial she already held, then set it aside and bandaged Sigyn's arm. "He'll be able to tell anyway, with the bindings."

"Whatever." Markov shrugged. "He can't do anything about it. Are we done here?"

The woman nodded, not once making eye contact with Sigyn. "We're done here. She can go back to the holding cell."

Markov took his time unstrapping her and leading her back, assuring that she didn't pass out or upchuck from the loss of her own blood. Sigyn was too distracted to care.

* * *

Loki woke slowly, instantly aware of his surroundings. The prior day's events flowed back to him like a rushing river, and he sat bolt upright with one thought gracing his lips. "Sigyn."

He blinked to clear his eyes and studied every crevice of her cage. She was not there. There was not a single sign of her.

In a flash, Loki was on his feet. If those men had broken their word, he would kill them all. If Sigyn was harmed in any sense of the word, to any degree, they would regret ever laying eyes on her. With a gutteral growl, Loki paced to the other side of his cage, then back. And began again. Oh, the tortures he would supply if they had laid a hand on her! Why had they taken her while he was asleep? Undoubtedly because they feared his rage. And if they feared his rage they must be doing something contrary to the promise they had given. Loki cursed and banged a fist against the glass wall.

The door opened and Loki spun to glare at the agent who entered. He lessened his severity only to note Sigyn stumbling in behind him, some sort of wrapping on one arm. Loki growled again. "What have you done to her?"

"Relax. We didn't hurt her." Markov opened her cage and helped her in.

Loki wanted so badly to demand that he unhand her. To declare that she was able to walk by herself and that this agent had no right to touch her. But he didn't. Sigyn seemed to think she was nothing but a porcelain doll to him, and he had to find a way to remedy that. Yelling at these people would not help.

So Loki decided to ignore Markov altogether and address Sigyn herself. "What have they done? Have they harmed you?"

Markov rolled his eyes as he locked the door, then headed for the exit. If he had been free, Loki would have followed and cut him down. He had no right to treat a lady like this.

"Did they harm you?" Loki repeated, studying her as she sank onto the cot.

Sigyn shook her head slowly. "They stole some blood. That is all."

"That is... all? _ALL_?!" Loki beat the glass wall again and glared after the agent who had left. "They bled you? They should know better than to harass someone more fragile than their warriors. And a woman, at that!"

"Oh?" Sigyn laid on her side and nestled a hand under her cheek. "Funny, I had thought you didn't even see me as a woman at all."

Loki stopped and stared at her. Of all the confounded misconceptions she had spouted over the past hours, this was the silliest of all. How had she come by these ridiculous theories of his thoughts? Loki was completely embarrassed by her lack of faith in him. But he didn't say so. It would only endorse her theories.

Instead, he asked a question. "Do you know when I first saw you as a woman?"

"The Eligibility Ball," Sigyn answered quietly.

"No." Loki shook his head, contradicting her.

She only tossed him a very confused glance and shrugged passively.

" _That_ was the first time we met after you had become a woman," he explained. "But it is not the first time I saw you as a woman. Not the first time I noticed you."

"I never even saw you before that. The last time I saw you, before that day, was by the beach when I was eleven." Her eyes narrowed. "So how could you have noticed me if you weren't around to see me?"

Loki smiled and settled down to the floor. At least then he could see her eyes. Could read her expressions and gaze upon her beauty at the same level she had put herself on. "The library," he answered her.

Sigyn scoffed and rolled her eyes. "I always made sure you weren't there before I went in. Mother and father wouldn't have liked me to secretly meet with you. They despised you!"

"About a month before the ball, you came to the library in a particularly distressed mood. I happened to be returning to the Bifrost at the time, so Heimdall alerted me that someone had entered the royal library. _My_ library. Naturally, I hastened back to see who would dare such a feat." Loki smiled wider, remembering the day as though it had only been yesterday.

"I never saw you," Sigyn replied. "I remember the day, but I never once saw you."

"You forget, dear one, that by that time I had learned to make myself invisible." He cleared his throat. "Anyway, I saw you then, your arms full of books and your eyes glistening. I could not tear my eyes from you. I had never seen such a love for the written word outside of myself. I loved you for it. I still love you for it. Among other reasons."

"Then why did you put me away?" Sigyn asked quietly. "Like a doll on a shelf, set aside to gather dust."

Loki felt the tears well. He hadn't wept in ages, but Sigyn despair had the capacity to push him over the edge. He wanted to reach out and touch her, to make her feel better. To make her see how valuable she was to him. Instead, he pressed a hand against the glass wall as though he could.

Sigyn turned away and curled into a ball. She wrapped her arms around her stomach and soon Loki could see her shoulders rise and fall in a steady rhythm. She had fallen asleep again, and it was too late for her to hear the words he spoke in answer to her question.

"I never meant to."


	21. Chapter 21

**A/N: A HUGE thank you to Short McGee, because these next two chapters are entirely inspired by one of your comments. I hope you like, and I love all reviews. So keep reviewing, lovies!**

* * *

After yet another harrowing day of whatever tortures these Midgardians could create, Loki found himself back in the cell next to Sigyn's. With more questions than answers. One in particular had been eating him alive since he had made the journey here and found her listless and alone. A matter that he had to deal with if he ever wanted to be able to live with himself again.

He looked to Sigyn, who lay curled up on her hard cot. Had she even moved since the night prior? Was she ill?

He pulled himself to the glass and stood as close to it as he could get, wanting only to be close to her. "Sigyn?"

"You are still here?" She didn't move, but at least she had spoken to him.

Loki nodded, though he knew she could not see him. "I am. I told you I would not leave without you."

"You may have been lying." She shifted, but still refused to look at him.

"I was not." Loki settled down to the floor and stared at her back. He hated it when she wouldn't look at him. He could never tell what she was thinking unless he could see her face. He had only seen her react this way once before, this silent rebellion. And he knew he had not done anything so bad as what had happened to cause it then. "Sigyn, I have a question."

"What is it, Loki?" she sighed.

Loki rested a hand on his forehead and rubbed in the middle, where a headache seemed to be starting. Would she ever speak to him in a kind, gentle tone again? It was one of the things he loved most about her. That she never seemed utterly outraged by his mischief or moods. Without the ability to read her body language, Loki didn't know how to pose his next question, so he started as gently as he possibly could.

"You were not wearing those things when they brought you here, were you?"

She sighed again, and shifted just enough to wrap an arm across her stomach. "Of course I was not wearing these things. You saw my journey here."

"You were not wearing your Asgardian things, either." Loki shook his head, already angry at the man who had treated her with such disrespect.

Sigyn finally turned her face to him. Then her body. And then she sat up. "How did you know that? When you last saw me, I was in my gown and slippers."

"No, my love." Loki placed a hand on the glass between them. "When you last saw _me_ , you were in your gown and slippers. The next time I saw you, your hair covered more than the raiment hanging upon your body."

"You saw that?" Sigyn stood from the cot, the farthest she had moved in hours. Loki had thought her resigned to her fate. Perhaps not. "You saw the compound? You saw when _Agent Markov_ tricked me into coming here with them?"

"I saw the end of it, yes." Loki nodded earnestly. "When he forced you into their carriage against your will. And I saw what you were wearing then. Something not even suitable for the lowest scullery maid." He breathed deeply, lest he start on a rampage. "Sigyn, love, please tell me. Who put you into such attire? Did they do anything... else?"

"They did not touch me in that way, Loki." But she hesitated when she said it. The look she had when she remembered something she did not want to share flitted across her face.

Loki sat forward. "Tell me. Please."

"I... he..." Sigyn pressed a hand to her chest, inches above her bosom. "He traced my neck is all. I didn't like the feeling, but he didn't touch me. Like that." She shrugged and looked down at the floor.

Loki set his jaw and narrowed his eyes. "He put you in the garment?"

"He had others put me in the garment, yes." She nodded listlessly.

Of course he had. Among other things he more than likely had in mind for her, had these incompetent agents not interrupted his plans. At least he could thank them for that. Not that he would. They had, after all, put his wife in a cage and threatened both his well-being and hers.

"What is his name?" Loki growled, growing angrier by the second.

Sigyn looked up, startled by his tone. She curled her legs up to her chest and swallowed. "Maxim."

"Kolenkov?" Loki asked.

She nodded.

He should have known. He had read the name, so he didn't know why he assumed it would be anyone else. Maxim Kolenkov. The man who attempted to take Sigyn, wife of Loki, against her will. Loki allowed a soft smirk to cross his lips. "Did they capture him, as well?"

"I know not." Sigyn shrugged and seemed to curl into herself. She briefly lifted those expressive eyes to see him, then dropped them again. "I would think so, though. They seemed to be there specifically to capture him."

Good. That meant he would be held close by. A plan began to form in Loki's head. Beginning with a gathering of information and ending with... well, he would decide when he got to that part of the plan.

* * *

Sigyn didn't understand. He had... followed her? Waited to see what would become of her so he could move on with life and his long line of harlots? Or had he... come for her?

His anger – and, yes, she could clearly see how irate he was – seemed to be on her behalf. The fact that Maxim had touched her in any way had turned his face to stone. Sigyn didn't want to look at him lest he take his anger out on her, but she desperately wanted to know why he suddenly seemed to care so deeply.

"Why..." Sigyn licked her lips, knowing if she upset him it would only sign her death sentence. As if death could be any worse than having a husband who did not love her. "Why does this offend you so?"

Loki snapped his head to look up at her. "Why does..." he blinked, in that way that made him look absolutely blindsided by whatever she had said. "Isn't it obvious?"

Obvious? Sigyn had no clue what he was talking about. Nothing was ever obvious with him, except when he was trying to avoid answering something. "You _obviously_ don't love me. So why is it so difficult for you to image someone else wanting me?"

"I do love you!" Loki looked hurt that she had ever thought otherwise. "And _I_ want you. You are mine, and the thought of him sullying you in such a way tears my heart asunder and makes my rage boil."

Sigyn blinked. "You _want_ me? Me?!" She stood to her feet and clenched her fists. "You've not so much as touched me, save a kiss or two. How could you possibly expect me to believe that you _want_ me?"

Loki hung his head and folded his hands in his lap. His words were barely audible. "Because it's true."

True? How could it be true? If he truly wanted her, how could he do this to her? He stayed so distant that they hadn't shared a room after their wedding. Not even once. And she could forget about sharing her husband's bed. He hadn't even consummated the marriage. So why was she here in the first place? If he wanted her, why did he not do something about it?

Her emotions roiling, Sigyn turned back for the cot and curled up. If only there was a way to forget her love for The Trickster. If only she could extricate herself from the desire to have him as hers. But, she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt, she would always love him. And above all, she would always forgive him.


	22. Chapter 22

A week or more passed, with the same routine day by day. During the morning, the agents would take Sigyn to extract blood and run tests. In the afternoon, they would come for Loki. He always returned beaten and bruised, and Sigyn was beginning to wonder if he had struck a term for her well-being. Ever since that first day, the agents had been especially gentle with her. Well, except for taking her blood.

Loki and she had settled into some form of routine, and an unspoken agreement had long ago passed between them that if one was uncomfortable with a subject of conversation, the other would drop it and move on. Sigyn found, however, that Loki very adeptly brought the conversation back to her doubts and fears more often than not. The more he assured her that he wouldn't have married her if he didn't want her, the more confused Sigyn became. How could one man's words and actions so completely contradict each other?

One morning, Sigyn woke with an uneasy feeling. Loki must have felt it, too, because he was not asleep or feigning sleep when she rolled over and sat up. Instead, he stood in the middle of his cell, hands folded neatly behind his back. She knew better than to talk to him when he was like this, so Sigyn curled her legs to her chest and waited for him to move first.

He held his position and glared at the door.

* * *

Loki marched down another hallway, spinning his knife in one hand. He didn't have much time, but he had enough.

Using what little knowledge he had of this facility, he had deduced that they would not hold normal prisoners in the same wing as him and Sigyn. And they would not put them in the torture wing they so kindly displayed to him. Which left two wings for him to check. Going on gut instinct, he had decided on this one first.

It seemed similar to the hall he and Sigyn were confined to, only this hall had prisoners in almost every room. Occasionally, he would hear the prisoners yell at each other or toss a quick word back and forth. He gathered from snippets that some had been here for years, others only hauled in days ago. It seemed the old man in the vehicle had been right. This SHIELD outpost was part alien hunters, part local law enforcement. A strange mix, but it worked to his advantage.

Somehow, Loki knew he would know the man that had thought to harm Sigyn, so he overlooked the ones who had been there for years or were newer than a week. Maxim Kolenkov. Loki searched each room thoroughly for any sign of a man who fit the name.

The last door on the right yielded the only possible candidate.

A man with dark, chin-length curls and a smug smile sat cross-legged in the middle of his glass cage, as though meditating. His eyes were closed, and all the better for it. Loki stepped through the open hallway door and took a moment to stare at him. Olive skin. Flawless hands, if a bit short and chubby. He probably spent money on what Midgardians termed 'manicures'. He was slim, fit. He might put up an admirable fight if he thought Loki was a threat. Which made the convenient closed eyes even more enticing.

Without a sound, Loki snuck into the room and tossed a look to the cameras. Easy enough to short out the electrical circuits. It shortened his time, but he wouldn't need much. Just enough.

He opened the latch on the glass cage silently and stepped in, closing the door behind him. Two more steps and he was in front of the man, staring down at him. Only then did he allow a sound. His own low growl.

Maxim's eyes shot open and he stared at the boots before him for a long minute before slowly trailing up to the irate face above him. He sneered. "Who are you?"

Loki looked down his nose at him. "I am Loki, of Asgard. And you... you are nothing more than the lowest scum Midgard has to offer."

"You are insane." Maxim shook his head but struggled to his feet nonetheless. He started to turn away, but Loki sent a stream of energy to hold him in place.

"I am not insane," Loki assured, leaning into Maxim's space. "You broke something very precious to me, and for that you must pay."

"I broke nothing. I don't even know what you're talking about."

"Sigyn Einarsdottir. Most beautiful woman of Asgard." Loki glared at him, wondering how he could not have picked up on that from the way he was holding him hostage in his own cage.

"The girl?"

"The _woman_ ," Loki corrected.

Maxim laughed and all Loki wanted to do was punch his stupid lights out. "Yeah, she's a looker, isn't she? Too bad I didn't have more time with her. I bet she'd have been a wonder if I had time to search all of her."

"She is my _wife_ ," Loki growled, tightening his hold on the man.

Maxim blanched.

Satisfied, Loki raised his chin. "Now, tell me exactly what you did or did not do to her."

Another wry chuckle escaped Maxim's lips. "You wish."

"Yes. I do wish it." With no warning, Loki spun his knife, brought it up, and braced it against Maxim's throat. "Tell me now and I will consider making your death swift. Or, if you prefer, I can use my blade to its utmost advantage."

"Her hair is splendid," Maxim croaked. "Such silk sliding over and around my fingers. So long. Almost too long, I'd say. It covers far too much skin for my liking."

Loki pressed the blade further against the man's throat, drawing a drop of blood. He watched it slide slowly down the knife. "I have no time for your games. You took her hair in your hands." He hissed a breath, even the thought of her hair against another man's fingers made him wish for blood. " _What_. _Else_?"

"Her neck. Her chin. Her shoulders." Maxim craned his neck to get away form the dagger, but it was no use. "That's all. As I said, I had no time for more."

Good. At least she had survived relatively unscathed. Loki sneered at the smug man before him. "Still, you broke her. Broke her spirit. Made her doubt my allegience to her. For that you must pay."

"No. No, please! Don't!"

* * *

Loki hadn't moved before the agents had come to take her away. When they had dragged her for the door again, he had done what he always did. Threatened their lives and beat his hand against the hard glass. Sigyn wished he wouldn't do that. At least then she would not fight so hard when they strapped her down to take her blood.

Only, today, they did not produce a vial to take her blood. They produced one with a liquid already in it. Some sort of greenish-gold concoction.

Try as she might to skirt away, Markov had successfully strapped her to that same ridiculous table as last time. If only she could remove the straps. Or summon Loki. He was rooms away. If only she could find a way to make him hear her. If only he would stop ignoring her pain.

"You'll just feel a prick."

With her arms incapacitated, Sigyn couldn't pull away from the needle, and it pierced her skin and entered a vein. She shrieked, more out of fear than actual pain, as the green-gold liquid seeped into her veins. Her head began to spin. This wasn't right. This was a new sensation that she didn't like and didn't think was good for her.

The woman put away her instruments and nodded once. "Observe and report. We're done here."

 _We're done_.

What did she mean? What had they done to her? She had thought they were taking her blood for... well, she didn't know! She had been so preoccupied trying to get away that she hadn't thought to ask why they did what they did. Was she so naïve that she didn't expect them to have an ulterior motive? If Loki had taught her anything, it was that ulterior motives were stronger than obvious motives.

The room spun before her eyes, similar to how she had reacted to Maxim's concoction, but much more severe.

Markov released the restraints, but Sigyn didn't have the strength to hurt anyone for what they had done. She closed her eyes and willed herself to be better, but to no avail. A massive headache began at the back of her head and made its way forward.

Despite a few whiny protests, Markov helped Sigyn out the door and back down the hall toward her cage.

Sigyn could only wonder what this would do to her. What havoc it would wreak on her. How could she not have seen this coming? First Maxim and now this. She should have been so much smarter and braver than she had been. She should have protected herself. Because now she didn't know how long she would be around for anyone else to protect.


	23. Chapter 23

Loki returned himself to his cage and turned to see if they had returned Sigyn yet. Nothing. Soon, the alarms would sound to let them know that a prisoner was dead. The eyes on the wall would more than likely show them who had done it. And Loki didn't care. Maxim Kolenkov had deserved the slow, painful death he had given him. There would be no remorse, no sorrow, for the man who had ruined so many lives.

He was just about to sit down and wait for Sigyn's return when the door opened. Loki bolted to the glass nearest the door and pressed against it.

For once in his life, his concern was real. Markov didn't escort Sigyn in, but rather carried her as she pressed her palms against her eyes. She moaned, and Loki's heart leapt into his throat. She sounded ill. Incredibly ill. Markov wouldn't even look in Loki's direction, a terrible sign from a man who had made a deal with the devil.

Loki lowered his voice until it was nothing more than a growl. "What have you done to her?"

Instead of answering, Markov set her on the floor of her cage and locked the door when he left. Alarms pealed at that moment, and Markov raced for the door. Good riddance.

Loki ignored the alarms and turned his full attention to Sigyn. She had turned until she was on all fours, and he watched as she crawled toward a corner on wobbly hands and knees.

"Sigyn, what have they done to you?" he asked. If he could, he would gladly take away her pain.

She shook her head, causing her long curls to fall around her face. "I do not... do not know." She gagged, and pressed a hand to her mouth.

Loki stepped closer to the glass separating them. "You are ill. Nauseated?"

She bobbed her head and gagged again. This time it sounded like something more than a dry heave.

Every fiber of his being wanted to go to her, but she wouldn't let him. Would she?

Sigyn vomited into the corner, every inch of her shaking as she did so. Still gagging, she leaned her tremulous form against the glass and managed a short glance his way. "Loki?"

That was all it took. Loki stepped into her cage and knelt beside her. With deft fingers, he stroked the long locks from her face. He had been an idiot to ever run to another woman's arms. Why had he ever thought his beautiful Sigyn was not enough? Or that he could find such love in others as he had seen in her?

"Shh, love. I am here." He stroked a thumb across her feverish cheek.

Sigyn looked at him as though she wanted to say something, but quickly turned aside to heave again before any words could come out.

Loki held her hair behind her head, allowing her space yet removing a burden. He stroked the soft strands with a gentleness he used with few people. Sigyn brought out the good in him. He didn't understand himself, sometimes. Why had it taken him so long to see this?

When Sigyn had lost the end of what little food she had left in her stomach, she turned to him with tears streaming down her cheeks. "Why?" she whispered.

Loki stared back at her, his heart breaking all over again as he watched her tremble. "Why what?"

"Why... all the women? Why always them and never me? Did you never want me in that way?" Her chin quivered as she spoke the final question.

Loki stroked her cheek again, noting that it seemed warmer than it had a moment ago. "Of course I want you that way. I do. I always have, or do you not remember the first time we danced?"

"You are a flirt." Sigyn tried to smile. "Then why not me? Why them?"

Loki took a deep breath. It wasn't easy for him, the Liesmith, to tell her the truth. But he would. "I was afraid that I would steal your innocence forever. And I could not bear that, to know that your precious childlike outlook on life had been shattered because of me."

"You think me a child? That is why you do not want me?"

"No, my love! No!" Loki shook his head vehemently. She could not think that of him. "I do want you. It is my greatest fear that you would not want me. That I would take away all the good you see in the world. And I never want that. I love that you see the good in the world."

"I do not know what they gave me, but I do not like it." Her tremors increased, but she brought her eyes to meet his. "Will you hold me, Loki?"

There was nothing he would like better. Loki scooped her small frame into his lap and held her close to him. He hadn't held her like this in such a long time. Ever since that fateful night when he had made the decision to marry her, no matter what. To take her away from her pain and give her a new life. And yet... he had been the cause of her misery since then. How could he let his foolish head dictate what his heart knew was not true?

He fought back to reality as Sigyn buried her head in his shoulder and cried. They couldn't stay there. The sirens hadn't stopped, which meant they were still on their way to investigate the dead prisoner on the other end of the compound. And once they found him, they would watch the video. And once they watched the video, they would lock Loki away where he would never be found. He wouldn't leave Sigyn alone again.

They had to escape while there was still a chance.


	24. Chapter 24

**A/N: So... this chapter (and the next few) inspired by a comment Nosside made. I'm so looking forward to this. Thanks for all the reviews, lovelies! Please keep them coming.**

* * *

"Sigyn?" Loki looked down when her head dropped heavily onto his arm. "Sigyn, love, wake up."

She moaned but didn't stir.

This could not be happening. He could not lose his Sigyn. Not like this. Not when they had just come back to a place where she realized his love. What had they done to her?

Loki knew he couldn't just sit there, holding her, as much as he wanted to. They would be coming for him soon. He had to get them out of there that instant.

He deftly moved to his feet, hauling Sigyn up into his arms and clutching her against him. Her form, as always, was light in his arms. Her silken hair hung long over his shoulder and arm, draping almost to the floor. Loki opened the cage door with a flick of his fingers and turned sideways to step through it so as not to crash Sigyn into anything.

Loki checked the hall for agents before he stepped out, still cradling Sigyn to his chest. He wouldn't let her go. She would return to Asgard with him, in one piece and whole again. He wouldn't let her slip through his fingers. Not this time. Yes, he may have been a moron to think he could keep her and yet seek love from others, but he had learned his lesson. Sigyn would recover. He would see to it.

Lights flashed red as he made his way down the hall and rounded corner after corner, trying to remember the way out. He had been more focused on finding Sigyn than escaping that day when he came for her.

Why were there no agents sweeping the halls? Surely they could not be so lax on security. But, then, they never expected him to be able to leave his cage. Obviously they hadn't seen the recordings from their eyes on the wall.

Loki turned another corner, and nearly walked right past the most important room he could ever find. He stopped, backtracked, and stepped into the security hub. The guards had long since gone, called by the alarms, and had left the video and informational files open. He smirked. They had no idea what trouble they had brought on themselves.

Loki settled Sigyn against the wall and pressed a kiss to her forehead. "Soon, love. Soon we'll be gone."

He turned to the computer devices and made quick work of deleting the recording that would show him ending Maxim Kolenkov's reign. He turned to the informational files. Anything mentioning his name, description, or information he had given them, he quickly deleted. Then he opened Sigyn's file and read through it before he deleted it, too. He paused when he came across a page describing a drug they had made from her blood.

Loki had always been good at remembering details, including medical information, and this was no different. He read what they had done to create it, and growled to himself. The idiots had created the exact opposite of her DNA, which meant only one thing. This _drug_ was turning Sigyn slowly mortal, and if he didn't get her to the healers soon, she would remain that way.

He pressed delete and lifted Sigyn again. Now he could leave. They had no information left on the two of them, and therefore had no way of finding them. He made a bee-line down the hallway.

The front doors presented themselves and a slight problem. Eight armed guards drew weapons and pointed them at Loki.

He clutched Sigyn tighter. There was no way he could hold to her and fight all eight of them. None. But, he had to try. Because he and Sigyn had to leave this place. And they had to leave now.

"Step aside and I will show mercy."

None of them moved. Not one single inch. It had been worth a shot.

"I apologize." Loki stooped to settle unconscious Sigyn by the wall again. Then he threw a shield up around her and turned back to the men. "But we have to leave."

Loki pulled a dagger (or three) from its sheath and prepared to fight his way out. Only, he didn't have to.

The front doors burst open, knocking two of the eight guards down immediately. The others turned their attention to the intrusion. Loki swore he heard a slight hiss each time one of the remaining guards lurched and fell. But, seeing as how they were all taken care of, he rushed back to Sigyn's side. It was the sound of boots that made him look up again.

The man that stood in the doorway was at least as tall at Loki. Strange, since Loki had always stood a head above everyone else. He walked with a confident stride and two men trailed him with long-barreled weapons in their hands.

Loki held Sigyn close to him and stood to his full height.

The man in the doorway smiled broadly.

Sigyn whimpered in Loki's arms.

Loki broke eye contact with the man to look down at his unconscious wife's face. He cradled her head against his shoulder and leaned down to kiss her temple. "Shh. All will be well, my love."

"Touching."

Abruptly, Loki lifted his head and studied the man. His accent was so similar to his own. This couldn't be... could it? "You are Carlisle," he deduced.

The man bowed with a flourish. "One and the same. I came to finish off an old enemy, but I see I've found something more." he paused, studying the strange pair in the hall. "Who are you?"

Loki didn't answer. He knew nothing about this man, except people had thought he worked for him and their accents were similar. He didn't know what the man did. Or why. Or how. So he would remain silent and let the man deduce what he would. But, he would be going out that door in the next moments. With or without permission.

Carlisle's smile widened, then faded. He glanced to the girl in Loki's arms. "Kolenkov did this to her?"

Loki shrugged noncommittally. Maxim Kolenkov may not have given her this drug that was slowly turning her mortal, but he had been the reason she had been captured in the first place. With a heavy release of hot breath, Loki realized he was quite glad he had ended the man.

"Well, then. Come along with me." Carlisle turned and started out into the cold. His men waited for Loki and Sigyn to exit before bringing up the rear.

Loki wished he had his cloak or a blanket to cover Sigyn in his arms, but he didn't. So he held her as close as he dared and kept an eye on the men following them. Something about this _Carlisle_ felt off. Wrong. Something in the back of his mind said he shouldn't trust the man. But, at the moment, Loki had little choice in the matter. Which meant only one thing. He would have to play this by ear.


	25. Chapter 25

**A/N: Hello again, lovelies! So sorry for the delay, but NaNoWriMo is upon us and I'm swamped with that and, well, life. I'll try to get new chapters up soon, but bear with me during the holiday season. Hope you enjoy this one!**

* * *

Somewhere, through fog and high on a cliff, Sigyn heard someone call her name.

She didn't want to wake up. Really. She just wanted to sleep forever. Her head throbbed and her body ached. Whatever they had given her, she just wanted it to leave her system. She wanted to be free from it. Free from the cage they had put her in.

"Sigyn?" the voice came again, nearer and more resonant.

Groggily, Sigyn forced her limbs from paralysis and tried to lift a hand to her head. Nothing moved, and she groaned.

Someone sighed, sounding very relieved. "Sigyn, love."

"Loki?" she mumbled. He had been there when she passed out, hadn't he? Had he passed a clone through the glass walls? Was that why he seemed so close?

"Are you well? Are you still nauseated?"

Sigyn shook her head slightly. "I am tired," she mumbled. It was, again, the biggest understatement she had ever made. She was exhausted, and all she wanted to do was sleep.

She felt Loki's hand on her forehead, and then he caressed her cheek. "Then sleep, my darling. I will be here when you wake."

Sigyn smiled. He had called her his darling. It had been a long time, indeed, since she had heard that word come from his lips. She didn't want to leave him alone, sitting there next to her, but she really had no say in the matter. So Sigyn let unconsciousness claim her once more.

* * *

Loki didn't know what to do. Which was a first, for him. As chief liesmith and all-around mischief maker, he always had a plan. But he had never planned for this. He had never thought Sigyn would follow him to Midgard or endure so much. And he certainly never thought she would slowly turn mortal. That hadn't even been in the realm of possibilities. So what was he to do now?

"What is wrong with her?"

The voice was familiar now, as the man had barely shut up the entire way to this compound. Carlisle. The man was insufferable, but as he had saved them from the incompetent agents with weapons, Loki had decided to tolerate him. For now.

"She is ill."

"Yes, I can see that," Carlisle scoffed. "But what is _wrong_ with her?"

Loki touched a hand to her burning forehead and shook his own head sadly. "I do not know," he lied.

Carlisle sighed and nodded, then motioned for the door. "Won't you come have some refreshment?"

Loki didn't wish to leave Sigyn's side, but he didn't want to insult his host, either. As crippling as the decision was, Loki made sure to give himself ample time to think through all the ramifications. Finally, he stood and squeezed Sigyn's hand one last time. He would follow their host to the other room, and he would return for Sigyn in short order.

Carlisle disappeared down the hall, and Loki followed. The ceilings were arched high, even in the corridors, and oranges and reds sparked in almost every decoration. Not colors Loki was particularly fond of, but to each his own.

With one last sigh, Loki followed Carlisle through a door and found himself in a rather large, rather comfortable study. Plush chairs covered in reddish-brown leather were scattered throughout the room, soft rugs graced the floors, and four fireplaces – one on each wall – burned brightly. All of it was a bit too warm for his liking, but Loki found a seat nonetheless.

"A drink?" Carlisle offered, lifting one of two glasses of wine from an end table.

Loki eyed him suspiciously and gave a nearly imperceptible nod. Words were his forte, but when one was as conspicuous as this Carlisle fellow, Loki made it a point to hold his words until he was sure whom – or what – he was dealing with.

Carlisle deftly handed over the glass, but Loki shook his head at that.

"No," he demanded. "Your glass. I'm no one's fool."

"You're not very trusting either, are you?" Carlisle laughed and switched the glasses, then handed the new one over to Loki.

The god of mischief smirked as he swirled the wine, looking for any sign of powder or separated liquid. He saw nothing. Not so much as a thin layer of oil on the glass itself. Satisfied that he wasn't about to be drugged, Loki took a sip. Not bad. He had tasted better, but then again, he had tasted worse.

"I don't trust anyone," Loki finally answered.

Carlisle chuckled. "Not even the girl in there? Mm, pity. She seems like someone worthy of one's trust."

"Oh, _she_ is," Loki sipped his wine again, then settled it nearby. "But you are not."

"Oh? And why is that?"

Loki sized him up. He knew full well there was nothing a mere mortal could do to him, but he didn't like the thought of insulting his and Sigyn's host. "I don't know you."

"Ah. And would you like to know me? To get to know my organization? What we do around here?" He shrugged. "I could arrange it, you know. I've a feeling you would make an excellent addition to my team. And, that girl in there could certainly be fun."

"She is mine," Loki hissed. "No one else's. I do not share and I will thank you to keep your hands and your stares _off_ of her."

Carlisle saluted with his glass of wine and then downed the entirety in one gulp. "Duly noted. She is lovely, though."

"She is perfect," Loki corrected. "Have no doubt that if I should ever see or hear of any form of indolence toward her, I will waste no time in ending you."

"I see." He motioned toward the door and one of his henchmen reacted by bringing a bottle of wine over. Carlisle smiled and took it from the man, then set to pouring it himself. "I only wished to know the depth of your attachment to the girl. There is no need to threaten me with bodily harm. You shan't ever see my hands upon her."

"Good." Loki swallowed the rest of his wine in one drink.

The longer this conversation rolled on – the longer this Carlisle spoke – the angrier he became. The man had no morals. No values. He spoke his mind and did as he wanted. And he was too similar to Loki for comfort.

"Perhaps rest would do you good?" Carlisle suggested.

Loki balked. Not now. Not when his Sigyn needed him. He shook his head. "No. Thank you for the wine, but I should like to return to my wife now."

"You are not even the slightest bit tired?"

Loki stood to his feet, sure to keep his features stone. "I will not sleep until she is safely home. Thank you for the refreshment. I will return to my wife now." Perhaps a stronger demand would make Carlisle give in.

Carlisle stood as well and waved a hand dismissively. "I will escort you back. I see now that your devotion will remain stronger than any reasoning I could give. Come." He clapped a hand across Loki's shoulders. "We shall return to her."

Loki winced. He didn't want Carlisle to come with him. He wanted a chance to sneak away. He and Sigyn had been under such scrutiny from the time Carlisle had burst through the doors at the impenetrable facility. He was tired of it, he wanted to go home, and he no longer knew why Odin had insisted he go to Midgard in the first place. Had he not fulfilled his mission yet? What else could he do?

With a sigh, Loki allowed Carlisle to escort him back to Sigyn's side. He didn't know what would come next, but he would await it eagerly. And he would see Sigyn home safely before she became a mortal permanently.


	26. Chapter 26

**A/N: Guys, I'm so excited about this chapter!** _ **Finally**_ **, we get to know who Carlisle really is! I just want to say, I could never have gotten through this whole thing without you guys, and I'm so happy that you like it so much. Sadly, there's only one chapter after this one, but never fear! I'm working on a prequel, which I hope you'll like just as well. Also, I have discovered the joy of writing Darcy Lewis, so I'll probably be posting something of that nature. Hope you enjoyed this story and I hope you really enjoy these next (last) couple chapters. Thanks, my lovelies!**

* * *

The next few hours drained Loki physically and emotionally. Sigyn didn't wake up. He thought his heart might very well break in two if he never saw her beautiful eyes again. Carlisle stayed away, much to Loki's delight. Something about the man bothered him beyond the expression words could give.

Loki remained by Sigyn's side, stroking her hair and calming her when she cried, far into the night. Until, finally, he gave in to the sleep that demanded he listen.

He woke to the strange sensation that the room had grown quite a bit warmer. Loki blinked, focusing his blurry eyes. He didn't like what he saw.

Carlisle sat on the other side of Sigyn, stroking her hair out of her face and cooing in a language Loki didn't understand, but recognized immediately. Why had Odin not warned him of this? Why hadn't he just said what he had wanted Loki to do?

Loki shot to his feet and shoved Carlisle's hand away from Sigyn face. "Do _not_ touch her!" he demanded.

"She seemed in pain." Carlisle slowly turned his head, and then his eyes, to meet Loki's furious gaze. "As you were indisposed, I thought merely to help."

"Help? No. I know very well what you thought." Loki lowered his voice only when Sigyn whimpered and shifted to curl into a ball. "What were you saying to her?"

"Oh, nothing much. Just calming her, as you have been."

"Lies!" Loki began to pace. Carlisle was full of lies, wasn't he? A master of them, almost as much as Loki. Almost. Loki could see through his falsehoods, and he didn't appreciate that the man still tried to outsmart him. "What. Were. You. Saying?" Each word came out as a hiss, a growl.

"I told you, it was nothing." He grinned, a Cheshire smile that twisted Loki's gut.

And in a moment, he knew. He knew the intent of what Carlisle had said, even if he didn't know the exact words. "Undo it."

Carlisle rose to his feet and calmly started for the door. "I know not of what you speak."

"You know what I mean." Loki caught his arm as he came around the end of the bed and didn't let go. "You know what you did. Undo it."

"Undo what?" Carlisle lifted a shoulder, then dropped it again. The grin never left his pathetic, chapped lips.

Loki growled. He should have seen this coming. In one easy movement, he released Carlisle's arm and clamped his hand around the man's throat. "Release her from the spell you have put on her, Fire Giant."

Carlisle chuckled. "Oh, and the half-breed shows his claws." He clucked his tongue. "I had thought you more... _civilized_ than that, cousin."

"Imbecile!" Loki clenched tighter. "I am not your cousin, nor have I ever been. Release Sigyn. _Now_! Un-charm her. Speaks the words and set her free from whatever you've done, Carlisle."

"Now, that's just hurtful. I have a real name, too, you know." Carlisle shot up a hand to clamp around Loki's neck, locking them in a perpetual circle of opportunity. "Halogi."

Of course. Hadn't Odin always spoken of ways to end Ragnarok before it began? With Halogi out of the way, Earth would be safe even if Asgard was not. Without the Fire Giant who would end the human race, Asgardians could certainly escape to the untouched world. Was that what Odin had been after the entire time? Safety for his own future at the expense of his second son? Too bad he had never countered in Sigyn.

In a split second, Loki made a decision. No matter what happened, Sigyn had to live. "Release her from the spell and take me. Kill me. Burn me. Do what you will. Only, release my bride."

"Is this true love, Loki? From the god of lies?" Carlisle – no, wait, Halogi – clucked his tongue again. Then he tilted his head as far as he could in Loki's death grip. Thinking. "With you dead, I suppose I'd have no need of a spell to hold her. She would, of course, be greatly indebted to me for saving her life. For keeping her from turning mortal."

Loki swallowed. For Sigyn, he could do anything. Even this. "Please," he breathed.

Halogi laughed loudly. "Begging? Oh, half-breed, that doesn't become you. And it won't work on me. Fortunately, I've a soft spot for the lady and I need you out of the way." He raised an eyebrow. "Release me and I will remove the spell." He loosened his grip on Loki's throat, then slowly slipped his hand away.

As difficult as it was for him, Loki released Halogi's throat and took a step back, keeping a wary eye on the man as he moved back to Sigyn side.

As Halogi walked, his skin faded from the human flesh tone to a deeper, darker red. Irridescent orange streaked it, making it look like fire and providing some interesting markings. Halogi stopped by Sigyn and muttered a few words.

Sigyn heaved a deep breath and uncurled from the ball she had earlier pulled herself into.

Loki let out a breath. He could feel the air around him change. Halogi had kept his end of the deal. Now it was time for Loki to keep his.

Halogi looked up at him and nodded toward the door. "Let us adjourn to the great hall. We mustn't disturb Lady Sigyn in her resting, yes?"

The way he said it, as if Sigyn belonged to him, made Loki want to vomit. Thor had never been this bad, if he even really found Sigyn attractive in that way. Loki could never really tell, even if he thought he could. And at least, if it were Thor, Loki knew he would care for her. He had no such promise from a Fire Giant – the monsters he had heard of as a child.

Loki remained submissive and calm all the way into the great hall. The hall with the four fireplaces. It all made so much more sense now that he had discovered Halogi's great trick. The man would, of course, like his home to remind him of his planet. He craved warmth. And, in that, Loki suddenly found his weakness.

If only there were a way to expose him to the cold. To break down his confidence and give Loki, who had never been bothered by the cold, an upper hand.

"Why do you call me half-breed?" Loki questioned in an attempt to buy more time.

Halogi chuckled and rested an arm on the back of a large chair. "Because you are."

"Lies. I am Loki Odinson, prince of Asgard, and you are nothing but a liar and a coward."

"Coward? Tsk, tsk. Come now, cousin. Who is the real coward in this family?"

"I am _NOT_ your family!"

"You let her be taken. You watched from afar as she was taken captive by yet another set of scoundrels. You let them take her blood and turn her mortal. And for what? To selfishly keep yourself unharmed? No, no, Loki. You are the coward, not I."

As much as Halogi's words incensed Loki, he couldn't help but feel a sting of the truth behind them. Why hadn't he stopped her from getting into that van? To protect her from any pain they might inflict while trying to keep her from him? Or to protect himself from imprisonment in a realm he could easily escape?

"Now," Halogi continued, clapping his hands together gleefully, "what end is befitting for you, my friend? And, by the by, I _am_ sorry I must end you. You would have made a fine ally, had I been able to spare you."

Loki nodded listlessly as he surveyed the room. Even if he died trying, he could not leave Sigyn with this Fire Giant. If she woke without his spell on her, she would at least know to call for Heimdall. Thor and the Allfather would keep her safe. He had to ensure she would be safe.

"I could burn you, as you suggested." Halogi stared into one of the fires. "But what fun would that be? I burn everyone else." He sighed, as though his dilemma on how to kill Loki was startlingly important.

Loki's gaze landed and held on the tall, pointed windows. He could not summon cold with his magic, but it was cold outside. Green light flickered at the edges of his fingers. He shot a quick glance to Halogi to ensure the Fire Giant was still preoccupied. As he suspected, Halogi didn't notice the green luminescence.

"I could torture you, but I don't have the appropriate rooms."

Loki rubbed his fingertips together and focused solely on the glass. He would have one shot at this, and he would have to trust his reflexes. He narrowed his gaze at Halogi. "I would sooner rot in the deepest flaming pit than see you have my wife as your own."

Halogi turned to him, a raging fire of anger burning in his eyes.

The windows shattered in a blast of glass slivers, frigid snow, and green light. The raging storm howled through the massive openings, bringing the cold of a winter's night with it, and the blazing fires sputtered and died.

"Trickster!" Halogi roared, wincing as the first icy flakes touched his skin.

"That's what I'm told." Loki grinned.

Flame licked around Halogi's fingers, and he ran at Loki.

Loki easily cloned himself and switched places, leaving Halogi speechless when Loki disappeared right in front of him. Exactly where Loki wanted him. He deftly extricated a knife from its sheath and braced for another attack as Halogi spun.

The fire around Halogi's fingers grew dimmer, tamped by the cold. "How dare you, half-breed? You aren't worthy of her."

Loki narrowed his eyes and straightened, opening himself for an attack as Halogi raced at him again, all rage. One carefully timed side-step took him out of the line of fire, and another saw his blade well inserted beneath Halogi's ribs.

"I know," Loki agreed. He pulled his knife from the Fire Giant's flesh and walked away. He didn't have to look back to know the crash he heard was Halogi, dying among the splintered glass.


	27. Chapter 27

Loki scooped up Sigyn, blankets and all, and held her as close to his chest as he dared. He only needed her to keep breathing. To hang on to immortality until he could find help.

He stopped before the massive front doors and lowered his forehead to her hair. "I apologize, my love, for the cold. It is a necessary evil to save you."

Sigyn, still unconscious, shifted ever so slightly in his grasp.

That was all the motivation Loki needed. He tucked Sigyn close to his heart and stepped into the frigid night air. "Heimdall! Heimdall, please! I've done all he asked, haven't I? This has to be it. _Please_ , Heimdall, open the Bifrost!"

Sigyn moaned against his chest, sending tendrils of vibration against his skin. A shiver wracked her body.

"She's dying, Heimdall, and I need help!" Loki growled, his frustration growing. "OPEN THE BIFROST!"

The clouds swarmed overhead, angry and black. Loki breathed a small sigh of relief and watched them swirl. Rainbow light danced in their midst, a sort of colorful lightning in the middle of the darkness.

Loki took a step back as the skies opened with a crash. Blinding multi-colored light hit the ground and caused it to shake.

No one arrived with it, but he hadn't really expected anyone. If he had been Thor, Odin no doubt would have come himself. Offered some sort of apology and the help he so needed. Instead, Loki shoved the thought to the back of his mind and entered the bridge alone.

Even as the pull of intergalactic travel shoved him through to Asgard, Loki clutched Sigyn tighter. He refused to let go of her. They couldn't have her and he would never let her slip away into oblivion. They would find help, and the only woman he would ever love would be fine. She had to be.

Loki landed in the Bifrost observatory with nary a falter. His gaze found Heimdall's, and the kind gatekeeper nodded once before he looked on Sigyn with compassion.

"I told her she should not go," Heimdall said quietly, sadly.

Loki wrapped the blankets more snugly around his wife. "Yes, and a lot of good that did her. You should not have let her come."

"She would not hear of staying here." Heimdall removed his sword from the stone and motioned to Loki. "You should take her to the healers."

He couldn't very well blame Heimdall for obeying Odin's orders, but he felt he had to blame someone. Why not the gatekeeper? Could Heimdall not have stopped this punishment? Could he not have convinced the Allfather to think of something less drastic? He certainly could have kept a slight, fragile woman from following Loki all the way to Midgard.

With a glare, Loki took long strides to distance himself from Heimdall as quickly as possible. He pulled up short when he saw the horse tethered outside the observatory. Only Heimdall could have known to have it waiting.

Loki swallowed his pride long enough to turn back to the gatekeeper. "Thank you."

Heimdall nodded.

Loki propped Sigyn up onto the saddle first, then mounted behind her and pulled her close. "Ha!" he shouted at the horse. It galloped down the bridge.

Loki could feel Sigyn's energy draining from her body, almost as though it was his own. Whatever the mortals had done, whatever they had put in that vial and injected into Sigyn, it worked too fast for his liking.

He pushed the steed fast. Faster than he had ever pushed a horse before. Time was imperative and he had little of it left.

He didn't bother to wait for the healers to come out to him. He scooped up Sigyn, leapt from the horse, and rushed in with little ceremony. "Help her!" he cried as he laid her on a table.

Healers rushed from the far corners, every one recognized Prince Loki's voice, and every one heard the rare desperation in it.

Loki barely heard the questions they posed, or the answers he gave. His mind focused on other things. Was he too late? Would Sigyn survive the night, or would she wither and die while he was forced to watch? It was too cruel to think of the latter, so he appeased himself by stroking a thumb across the back of her hand as he held it.

With a blink, Loki looked down at her empty ring finger. He hardly would have thought of it had he not felt anything on it. Her ring. He had misplaced it, and after she had been so distraught over it. He lifted his own left hand and stared at his ring. After all this time, the inscribed words had sunk deep into his memory. Words he never deserved, because they didn't fit how he felt.

Loki slipped his wedding band from his finger. With a whisper of green magic, he watched it shrink to a smaller, daintier size, and slid it onto Sigyn's hand.

"Sire, I must ask you to leave. This is a delicate situation, and we must be free to do our work." One of the healers pressed a hand to his arm in warning.

As much as he hated it, Loki swallowed his pride for Sigyn's sake. "Wear it well, my little Sigyn," he whispered into her ear. "You deserve it more than I. I shall return. That is a promise." He kissed her cheek and turned for the door.

He tossed at least two glances back at her limp form.


	28. Chapter 28

Sigyn groaned. She had never hurt so much in her life. What had happened to cause such head-splitting soreness?

Piece by piece, memories sank in. She had been in a glass cage, and Loki had been there. She hadn't felt well. In fact, she had felt horrible. She had retched anything she had in her stomach, which hadn't been much. And, still, Loki had been there. She remembered him calling her darling and telling her he would be there when she woke, and yet... where was he?

A steady hum and a hint of something in the air both felt familiar. Sigyn's eyes fluttered open and she took in air in surprise and pleasure.

The healing rooms. On Asgard. Somehow, Loki had brought her back home. Or... had he sent her home without him?

"Loki?" Sigyn muttered, turning her head to the side. He had to be there. He was all she had.

One of the healers rushed to her side and stroked a hand down her cheek. "You are awake. How are you feeling?"

Sigyn managed a shrug and looked past the healer. "Loki."

"I will send for his highness immediately." The healer raised a hand and snapped her fingers at another woman, who rushed to do her bidding. "Can you sit up?"

With the healer's help, Sigyn managed to raise herself without much nausea, only dizziness. She pressed a hand to her head to still it, but jerked it back when she felt something cool on her finger. She stared down at it. Her breath caught.

This wasn't her ring at all. The inscription was... was... _Loki's_. But... He should have been wearing it. What had happened to him? Why had he given up his ring? The healer said he was on Asgard, but that didn't mean much when Odin was angry with his son.

The healer returned with both princes on her heels. She seemed to be explaining something to them as they walked. Thor didn't seem pleased. Loki even less so. Sigyn swallowed and tried her best to fix her long, loose hair.

Thor nodded at the healer and broke loose to come to Sigyn's side. "Lady Sigyn, you are well? My brother... you are not hurt?"

"Of course she isn't, you buffoon!" Loki answered in a typical brotherly rage. "Do you think I would let any harm come to her? She is my wife, after all."

Sigyn looked up at her husband, unsure what had caused him to be so angry. She didn't like him angry. In fact, she wanted to be as far away from rage as she could possibly get. However, she quickly watched his eyes soften and his frown fade. He extended his arms in welcome.

Sigyn leapt from the table into Loki's arms and wrapped her own arms around his neck. "I'm sorry I thought you were an illusion, Loki. Truly. I didn't know what to think. I thought maybe you didn't want me anymore. That you would truly throw me away to the Midgardians and send an illusion to taunt me. I'm so sorry."

Loki held her tightly, his strong arms unwilling to let go. "You thought I might throw you away? Why do you keep insisting on this? Am I that much of a monster?"

Sigyn ignored Thor's eyes on the back of her head and tilted back to look up into Loki's face. "All the scandalous women... the affairs... I thought I wasn't good enough for you."

"You are too good for me," Loki purred, stroking her hair. "I couldn't bear to ruin you or break you."

"I won't break," Sigyn muttered, clinging to Loki as if her life depended on it.

Loki kissed her hair. "I know that now. Still... I think it is best you remain in your own chambers until Odin sorts out what is to be done with me."

"He is still angry?"

"Yes, and I wouldn't have you bear the brunt of it."

Disappointed as she was—for Valhalla's sake, she hadn't ever slept next to her husband—Sigyn nodded. She would do as she was asked, until such a time as he summoned her.

/

Two weeks passed, and Loki found with each day it was easier to let things slip into the way they had been before. Sigyn looked upset and hurt each time she retired to her own chambers, but Loki couldn't get over the fact that perhaps he would hurt her or change her. He had summoned her for a chat, but the stubborn woman refused to come to him or was delayed by someone. It had been hours. Whatever could she be doing?

So thinking, he paced his chambers.

Why could he not admit that Sigyn was good for him? That he loved her dearly and that the thought of spending one more day outside of her presence made him physically ill? Why could he not tell her how he felt and allow her to love him? He was only making things worse by acting as terribly as he had those first years.

He sighed. She should have been there. She had ignored him. Again. It was becoming a habit, perhaps her way of pulling back as he was. Well, he was done with it!

Loki stormed from his chambers and headed for hers. If retrieving her himself was what it took, so be it.

Halfway there, he stilled. There she stood, in the middle of the hall, two guards before her. Was she... conversing with them? Guards were sworn to protect the crown, so he didn't think they would hurt her, but... look at her. How could they refuse? Her long curls were mussed, as though she had been sleeping and had been woken by his summons. Indeed, that might be the case, as a silken robe hung over what he could see of her nearly transparent night-dress.

Loki's gaze wandered over her perfect image, from tousled hair to slender bare feet. How could he have resisted her all this time? Even in the shapeless robe, he could see the outline of her tiny waist, her long, lean legs. Sigyn was more delicate and perfect than any of the other women he had settled for. Why had he ever put her away?

One of the guards reached to swipe a stray strand of hair from Sigyn's face, and Loki's anger returned. How dare he presume to touch Loki's woman? Had they no shame?

He saw the wariness seep into Sigyn's eyes and he saw her brace to retreat. No, no. They would have none of that. Not with her looking as she did, bleary-eyed and absolutely enchanting.

Loki took off again, his own long legs carrying him down the hall. He practically pushed the guards out of his way, took Sigyn's face in his hands, and lowered his lips to taste hers. As he had always thought. Perfect. They tasted like berries and milk, Sigyn's typical bedtime snack.

Her tender, supple lips moved against his after the surprise wore off, and neither realized Loki had trapped her against a wall until he finally lifted his head and smiled down at her.

Her innocent gaze penetrated the fog around him, and Loki realized they were still in the hallway and the guards still watched.

He spun an irate glare at them. "Leave us and do not ever come near her again, or I will have you both flogged and hanged."

The guards hustled off without another word.

Loki returned his attention to his wife. "Did you receive my summons?"

Sigyn nodded. "I was... waylaid. They... they are friends, Loki, and only wanted to talk."

"Yes. Some friends." Loki traced a finger over her lips, wanting so badly to taste them again. His voice lowered. "Sigyn, love?"

"Hmm?" Sigyn's eyes widened and moved from his finger to his face.

Loki stroked a hand down her arm and took her fingers in his. "Stay in my chambers tonight."

Sigyn's dumbfounded nod was all the encouragement he needed. Loki bent to steal her lips again, and led her with him back to his door. When he pulled her to a stop, her left hand lifted involuntarily to rest against his chest and Loki smiled at the inscription he easily read. She deserved every word of it, and it was his promise to her. A promise he would never break.

 _Tilh_ _ø_ _rer min kj_ _æ_ _rlighet til meg._

My beloved belongs to me.


End file.
